The Ava Chronicles
by sreduaram
Summary: Meet Ava Grier. Gryffindor Seeker, slightly irrational, and does not fancy Oliver Wood. Or so she says.
1. Whatever you say, Ava

Bloody hell. I am snogging Oliver Wood! That's right. _Oliver Wood. _My quidditch _captain_, keeper extraordinaire (or so he likes to think) and hater of all things purple.

_How do I get myself into these types of situations? _

He tasted like firewhiskey. Which was mostly likely the cause of the situation.

See we were celebrating having been back at Hogwarts for a week. The Weasley twins somehow managed to drum up loads and loads of food and drinks. So everyone was drinking, having a good time. And in my drunken state Oliver Wood looked _really_ good to me. Not that he doesn't always look good, I just tend to ignore it.

So I staggered over to him where he was slouching on the couch and mentioned that he was looking particularly good. To this he drunkenly replied, 'No _you _look particularly good,' and proceeded to throw himself at me and kiss me.

Somehow we managed to get up to his dorm, which is where I am now. It took me a while but I've finally realised what I'm doing.

My eyes open wide, and I abruptly push myself up.

'Shit,' I mutter as he looks up at me, eyes wide, seeming to be just as shocked.

Did I mention I have a boyfriend? Well I do. Double Shit.

I quickly clamber off him and mutter to myself as I hurry out of the room. He doesn't say anything.

I avoid Wood all Saturday. How do I manage this? Well, every time I see him, I hide behind someone else. I really can't stand the thought of having to face him right now.

I saw Luke first thing on Saturday morning. Yeah, my _boyfriend. _Who I cheated on. I kissed him on the cheek to say good morning, and was immediately overcome with a wave of guilt. But I couldn't tell him. He'd be absolutely crushed, not to mention extremely mad, and would probably head out to kill Wood.

He's a tad overprotective.

And even though I am planning on breaking up with him in the not too distant future, I don't feel any better.

I haven't told anyone about what I'd done. Not even my best friend Max, who I tell everything to. But I'm going to. In fact, that's where I'm headed right now. To our dormitory, which was where I'd last seen her.

I open the door to find her just where I left her. Sleeping. She tends to sleep in on Sundays. And by sleep in, I mean until 2pm.

I pick up a pillow and whack her with it. I hear a groan and she slowly sits up, rubbing her eyes.

'What?' she says, looking at me bleary eyed. Her short blonde hair is sticking up all over the place. I sit down on the end of the bed.

'Hi Maxie,' I say. Her real name's Maxine, but call her that and she'll hex you until the cows come home. She hates that name.

'What'd you wake me up for?' she asks groggily.

'Well you really should be up – it's after two. And I really need to tell you something before I explode,' I say sweetly. She looks at me suspiciously.

'What'd you do now?'

'What makes you think I did something? I just said I needed to tell you something.'

'You have your guilty face on,' she says, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world. She knows me too bloody well.

'Always jumping to conclusions,' I say, shaking my head mockingly, 'IsnoggedWoodonFriday.'

I say that super quickly, but she manages to understand. I watch as her eyes narrow, waiting for me to tell her I'm joking, and then when I don't, they take on a look similar to that of a deer caught in headlights.

'You did _what_?' she asks, looking disbelieving. I smile sheepishly.

'You snogged Wood. As in Oliver Wood. As in your _quidditch captain_?' I nod. She looks at me with her mouth open for a moment.

'Was it good?' she asks suddenly, grinning evilly.

'Ye- What?!' I cry. Honestly, I tell her I snogged Oliver Wood, and all she asks is if it was good? Can't she see the problem in this situation?

'Well I've heard things about him. I want to know if they're true,' she says, shrugging.

'Max, can't you see the problem with this situation?!' I ask, disbelievingly. And she calls herself my best friend. Again she shrugs.

'Well firstly, I snogged _Oliver Wood. _Don't you realise how awkward it's going to be at training? Secondly, I already have a boyfriend!' I cry exasperatedly. Can she give me a little help here?!

'Come on, surely its not that bad. Plus I thought you'd already broken up with Luke,' she says and I shake my head. She shrugs for a third time.

'Can't you just tell me off or something? Make me feel bad?'

'Oh well in that case – What is wrong with you!? You cheated on your boyfriend!' she says, sarcastically, raising her voice. I wince. I mean, I know she's joking, but she speaks the truth.

'I know,' I sigh, 'Should I tell him?'

Max puts on her thinking face for a moment.

'Look, that's up to you. I mean he is your boyfriend, so it would be the right thing to do, but if you were going to break up with him anyway, it's a bit different,' she says reasonably. I nod in acceptance.

'My advice is break up with him and get with Wood,' she says, grinning. I look at her outraged.

'Get with Wood?! Why would I get with Wood?!'

'Well it's obvious you fancy him,' she states, rolling her eyes.

'I do not bloody fancy Wood!' I cry. Seriously, what has she been smoking? When have I ever given any indication of fancying Wood?!

'Come on, why else would you let him snog you. Plus you've admitted it yourself- he's fit.'

Where the bloody hell does she get her ridiculous ideas from?

'I was under the influence of alcohol! I had no control over what I was doing!'

'Oh come on, you hadn't had that much. You knew perfectly well what you were doing,' she says calmly. I fold my arms, grumbling.

'I do not fancy Wood!' I say again and she just smiles sarcastically at me.

'Whatever you say Ava, whatever you say.'


	2. Anything for the Quidditch Captain

I'm hiding from Wood for the fifth time this week. He's been trying to catch me between classes for the past three days so we can talk, but I always manage to make an up an excuse to not see him. I've been arriving at class just as the bell rings so he can't get to me before, and as soon as the bell rings for the end, I rush out and hide in the bathrooms. I'm smart.

'Er, is Ava Grier in here?' a tentative voice calls out. I'm sitting on a toilet in one of the cubicles, waiting for the bell to go.

'Yeah,' I call out.

'Err, Professor McGonagall needs to talk to you. She's just down the hall.' I groan and open the door. Standing there is a nervous looking first year.

'Will you follow me?' I smile reassuringly at her and nod.

'Thanks hun,' I say and she leads the way out the door.

I follow her down the corridor and she indicates a door on the right.

'She's in there,' she says before scarpering. Weird.

I open the door and am about to step inside when a hand grabs me and pulls me in. I scream and the door shuts behind me. A hand is thrown over my mouth.

'God Grier, keep it down!' comes a familiar Scottish drawl. I immediately stop screaming, and instead lick his hand. He pulls it away looking disgusted.

'What?' I say, looking up at Wood innocently.

So he's finally cornered me. In an empty classroom, no less. It's dimly lit, and has an eerie feeling to it. Or maybe that's just because I know what's coming.

'How'd you get that kid to come get me?' I ask, curious. He smirks at me.

'First years would do anything for the quidditch captain.'

'Uhuh. Can I go now?'

'No, I want to talk to you,' he says, sounding annoyed, 'You've been avoiding me.'

I decide to play it dumb.

'No I haven't.'

'Yes, you have.'

'No.'

'Grier, I've seen you hiding behind people all week. I'm not daft.' Bugger. Here I was thinking that he'd lost all his brains having been hit too many times by bludgers.

'So what if I have?' I say, folding my arms and leaning against a desk.

'Look, about Friday night -' he starts but I interrupt.

'Oh, you actually remember that, do you?' I say, feigning surprise. He scowls at me.

'Yes. Why wouldn't I?'

'Well I was under the impression that you'd had a bit to drink.' He looks at me, confused.

'So?'

'So, it was just a lapse in judgement, letting the alcohol get the better of us. Okay? Now can I go?' I say, heading for the door. However I have only taken a step when he grabs my arm. He lets go rather quickly.

'No,' he says forcefully. I turn back around to face him.

'What else then?' I say impatiently, tapping my foot. I honestly did not like being stuck in an empty room with just Wood. What else could there be for him to say. Its obvious it meant nothing to both of us.

'One more thing - Don't you have a boyfriend?' says Wood, and I freeze.

'Yes.' Wood runs his hand through his hair, as though nervous.

'Have you told him?'

'Do you think I'm that stupid?' I ask, and he breathes out.

'Good, 'cause that guy scares me,' he says. I stare at him for a second before bursting out laughing.

'Luke _scares _you?' I gasp out and Wood glares at me.

'He's hexed me before,' says Wood, still glaring at me. I stop laughing abruptly.  
'What? When?'

'A while ago – I was talking to you and once you left he came up and said 'Don't ever look at her like that again,' and he hexed me.'

I look at Wood in disbelief for a second. Luke actually hexed him? Overprotective bastard.

'Are you serious?' I ask and he nods, 'How were you looking at me?'

Wood blushes slightly and looks away, scratching his head.

'Well, err, I may or may not have been lookingdownyourtop,' he says, looking at me and smiling sheepishly. I look at him in shock.

'You were looking down my top?! Perve!' I cry, and slap his shoulder lightly. I'm not actually offended. In fact, it's nice to know that Wood was checking me out. No! No its not! I'm disgusted!

'Sorry, I couldn't help myself! Your top was extra low that day…' he says, grinning slightly. I shake my head at him.

'So is that all you wanted to say?' I ask Wood.

'Yeah, so we're good?'

'Yes, we're fine. But lets never mention it again, okay?' I say before leaving.

I haven't seen Luke for two whole days. I don't know where he's got to. With him being in Hufflepuff, we don't have all the same classes, but I would normally see him at least once throughout the day.

I've been planning on breaking up with him – ever since my talk with Wood I've realised just how damn overprotective he is. I mean seriously, hexing Wood for looking at me? Way too overprotective. Plus, he thinks I don't notice him flirting with other girls. Well I do. And I don't complain, as long as it doesn't result in anything more. But another guy can't even glance my way without being punished for it.

I'm on my way to our Friday quidditch practice, when I finally see him. He's walking along the 2nd floor corridor with one of his friends.

'Hey Ava!' he calls when he sees me, I half-smile in response. When he reaches me he pulls me into a hug, to which I only half-heartedly respond.

'Can I talk to you for a minute?' I say, 'In private?' I look pointedly at his friend, who takes the hint and leaves.

'What's up?' asks Luke cautiously. I take a deep breath, ready to say the speech I've been going over and over in my head.

'We've been going out for, what, 7 months now? Well that times been great. But I think it's time we moved on.' I say calmly. He looks at me as though he doesn't understand.

'You know, see other people?' Still no response.

'Break up.' I say bluntly, and I finally get a response.

'_You're_ breaking up with _me_?' he asks disbelievingly. I sigh and nod.

'Why? Is there another guy?' I open my mouth to speak, but he beats me to it.

'Is it Wood?' he spits.

'No! What?'

'Oh come on Ava, I've seen the way he looks at you. He's tried something on you hasn't he?' he snaps coldly.

I stand there speechless, utterly incapable of forming words.

'No – I- uh,' I stutter and he looks down at me coolly.

'Forget it. I'm over you anyway,' he snaps and walks off.

I stare after him in total shock for a minute before I manage to get my thoughts in order. Well, that could have gone better.

I walk down to the quidditch pitch in a daze, still not believing I'd just dumped him. I change into my gear, grab my broom and wander out onto the pitch where the rest of the team are.

I don't hear any of Wood's motivational speech, or his explaination of what we're doing, so it comes as a shock to me when the rest of the team takes off.

'Grier!' I jump at the sound of my name. Wood is strolling towards me. 'Did you not hear my instruct- Are you alright?' he asks, his face suddenly looking concerned.  
I shake my head to clear it, before looking up at Wood.

'Yeah, sorry. I – I just broke up with Luke,' I mutter.

'Oh, what'd he say?' Wood looks genuinely concerned. Looking at him reminds me.

'Wow, you're actually showing some compassion!' I cry. Wood scowls at me. 'Well actually, he thought you'd tried something on me,' I say, apologetically. Wood's mouth forms an 'o.' 'I don't know what he's got against you. Apparently he's "seen the way you look at me,"' I say, smiling slightly, and using my fingers as air quotes. Wood grins back.

'Oh yeah? And how's that?'

'Who knows? I don't think he actually knows what he was talking about. He seemed completely shocked I was breaking up with him,' I say, laughing lightly. Wood joins in laughing.

'So you're alright, yeah?' says Wood, and I nod, 'Okay, then get going then!'

I don't need telling twice. I climb onto my firebolt, and push off the ground hard. Soon enough I'm soaring around the pitch, feeling much better. Flying has always made me feel good.

I scan the pitch to see what the others are doing. Fred and George Weasley who are beaters, are whacking a bludger back and forth between them, laughing loudly at something and every know and then winking at the chasers. Our chasers, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, are throwing a quaffle between them, occasionally throwing it at the hoops where Wood would normally be. Angelina keeps gancingooking over at Fred. Someone has a little crush…

'Grier, I'm letting out the snitch!' calls Wood from beneath me. I've played seeker since my 4th year, and loved every minute of it. We haven't won the quidditch cup since my first year on the team though, which is quite disappointing. But I feel we have a good chance this year.

We play a mini game, before retiring to the ground.

'Good practice guys,' calls Wood as we gather round him, 'Keep that up and we've got a good chance at the cup this year. Now I've worked out a few tactics, judging by that practice…' he drones on for a while, and as is always the case during his speeches, I tune out. Eventually we are told to get change.

As soon as we enter the girls change room, Alicia starts chattering.

'Ava, Wood was totally watching you all training,' she says conversationally. I nearly drop my broom.

'No he wasn't,' I say stupidly.

'Yes he was. He flew right into me 'cause he was too busy staring at you,' she says, smiling broadly and showing off her perfect white teeth. I scowl.

'Oh, come on Ava, Wood's fit! It's a good thing!' cries Angelina, gesticulating wildly with her hands. I scowl at her.

'But you'd much rather have Fred watching you, wouldn't you Ange?' smirks Katie, changing the subject and Angelina blushes. I smile gratefully at her. Good old Katie, always knows when to move on.

'Wh-what gives you th-that idea?' stutters Angelina, not looking at anyone. Katie, Alicia and I all give each other a look, and swarm around her chanting, 'Because you _luurrrvvee_ him, you want _huuuuggg_ him, you want to_ kiiiiss_ him -'

'Okay, okay! I like him!' cries Angelina putting her hands over her ears. We all squeal loudly, even though we already knew this. It's just so much better having her admit it.

'Just never ever sing that song again!'

We all laugh and continue changing.

'Hey Ava, what was up with you at the start of training? You looked a bit out of it,' asks Katie looking concerned.

'Oh, I uh, I broke up with Luke just before I came down,' I reply slowly. The three girls turn to look at me, and suddenly I'm attacked in a group hug.

'You finally did it!' cries Alicia. I'd told them last training session about my plans to break up with him.

'You're my hero!' cries Angelina.

'Welcome to singledom!' cries Katie. I laugh and we break away from the hug. Katie looks at me expectantly.

'So, what'd he say?' she asks eagerly. She was always a lover of gossip.

'Well firstly he didn't get what I was trying to say. Then once he caught on, he accused Wood of being the cause,' I say. They all look outraged by this.

'He did WHAT?'

'What's Wood got to do with it?'

'Apparently he'd seen the "looks Wood's been giving me," whatever that means,' I shrug slightly. Alicia suddenly grins.

'So it wasn't only me who noticed them!' she cries, and I look at her confused.

'Oh come on Ava, he's been staring at you all week!' she says, as though I should know it. Which I don't.

'What? Why?' I ask, completely confused.

'Because he likes you!' cries Katie as though it's the most obvious thing in the world.

'No he doesn't,' I reply. Honestly, where do they get these ridiculous ideas from?

'Yes he does,' she says, and looks pointedly at the others. Suddenly I'm surrounded. Hang on….

'He_ lluurrrvvess_ you, he wants to _kiiiiss _you - ' they chant.

'Okay, okay!' I cry over the top of them. They all smirk at me. Now I know why Angelina was complaining about the singing. Or rather, chanting, since none of us can actually carry a tune.

'Wood loves Ava!' cries Alicia loudly. The other girls dissolve into giggles as I shake my head at them.

'Real mature, guys,' I say, 'I'm going up to dinner now, coming?'

'Yep, lets go!' says Alicia, and we all link arms and skip towards the castle. Training always puts me in a good mood.

We find Max sitting at the Gryffindor table, reading the evening prophet while chewing on a piece of chicken.

''ow was trainin'?' she says with a mouthful of food as I plonk into the seat next to her, and the others sit down opposite. I turn my nose up at her eating habits.

'Not bad,' I reply.

'Wood couldn't stop staring at Ava,' says Alicia, giggling slightly. Max smirks.

'Told you he likes you!' she cries.

'Who likes who?' a familiar Scottish drawl comes from behind me.

'No one!' I squeak quickly, hoping he hadn't heard the rest of the conversation. Wood sits in the seat next to me, causing the girls to snigger. I glare at them.

'Uhuh…' says Wood, raising his eyebrows, 'You weren't talking about Fred and Angelina by any chance?' He smirks, looking at Angelina. She blushes and ducks her head.

'What?!' she squeaks.

'Ange, you two are so unbelievably obvious,' says Wood, 'Flirting all the time, stealing glances at each other. Just find a broom closet already!'

'What's this about a broom closet?' asks Fred, as he and George sit down at the table, Fred seeming to sit extra close to Angelina. Angelina blushes even more.

'We were just saying how you and Angelina need to find one and snog already,' says Wood, shrugging. Us girls all turn and glare at him.

'Wha'?' he asks through a mouthful of food. He has no tact that boy. Fred, who is normally not phased by anything, let alone embarrassed, is sitting there staring at his food, determinedly not looking at Angelina, who's face is the colour of a tomato.

'You idiot!' I mutter to Wood, slapping his arm. He looks at me innocently. I roll my eyes.

We all sit in silence for a minute, chewing on our food, not knowing what to say. Oliver's arm brushes against mine and I jump.

'What do you call a donkey with three legs?' asks George loudly, trying to break the awkward silence. Everyone turns to look at him.

'No idea, what do you call a donkey with three legs?' says Alicia, grinning at him.

'A wonkey!' cries George, laughing loudly at his joke. We all roll our eyes and groan. Alicia looks at him and giggles. He winks at her.

'You seriously need some better jokes, mate,' says Oliver. George just shrugs and continues to grin.

'Anyway, I have to go, err.. polish my wand,' says George. I don't miss the look he gives Alicia. 'See you all later.'

George takes a last bite of his potato and leaves, again looking pointedly at Alicia.  
'Polishing his wand?' mutters Alicia shaking her head, 'Anyway I've got homework to do. Bye.'

As she leaves we all stare after her in shock.

'Was it just coincidence that they left right after one another? And am I the only one who saw the look?' I say.

'I saw that too…' says Angelina, who seems to have recovered from her embarrassment. She's staring curiously in the direction Alicia walked out.

'You know what this means girls!' cries Katie, smiling broadly, 'It's detective time!'

Max, Katie, Angelina and I all jump up simultaneously, grinning. Wood and Fred look at us as though we're insane. We're girls! We like to know what's going on!

'What are you- ' starts Wood but I cut him off by putting my hand up.

'Sorry, no time for talk. Lets roll,' I say, pointing towards the door. We speed walk out of the great hall, ignoring the weird looks we're being given. Once outside, we stop.

'Ava, Max take that way,' says Katie, pointing to the right, 'Me and Ange will go this way,' she points to the left, 'Be back in the common room by 7.30 to report your findings.'

We immediately head off in our assigned directions.

'Where could they be...?' Max thinks out loud.

'Lets just follow this corridor until the end, opening any doors and whatnot on the way,' I say. She nods and we spy-walk down the corridor.

I spot and door, so I kick it open.

'HA!' I cry. However, its just an empty classroom with no one in it. We move on.

'HA!' cries Max as she kicks open another door. Broom closet full off… cat toys?! Filch really is insane.

'HA!' Max cries again kicking open the next door. First year reading.

We continue in this way up the next two floors, but we don't find Alicia and George. However we do find two 2nd years making out (Hello? You're 12?!), Snape talking to the Astronomy teacher (in an empty classroom – as you do), a group of 4th year boys crowded around a book (I really don't want to know…) and the Defence against the dark arts teacher, Professor Didley dancing around the room (she's always been a bit insane).

We're walking along the third floor, when we open the door to a broom closet. The door swings open and reveals Alicia and George in a tangle of limbs, snogging. They realise that we're there, look at us, and continue.

'Um, guys I really don't need to see that!' says Max.

'Then leave,' comes George's voice, as he feels around for the door handle without removing his lips from Alicia's. Max and I look at each other, and slowly back out of the room.

'Well, that was a bit unexpected,' I say, and Max nods, her shocked expression mirroring mine. We head back to the common room, waiting to tell Angelina and Katie.

They aren't there when we return, but Fred and Wood are, sitting in a corner playing wizards chess. We head over to them and sit down.

'How was your, uh, detective mission?' asks Wood, smirking, clearly mocking us.

'Very successful,' I say, and Wood and Fred both look up, interested.

'What did you find?'

'Well we searched the first two floors with no luck,' I say.

'But then we arrived on the 3rd floor,' says Max.

'We came to a broom closet that looked quite promising.'

'And what did we find?'

'Alicia and George snogging!'

'Really?' asks Wood, looking disbelieving.

'Really, really,' I reply, nodding. Fred scowls and starts muttering something about 'Bloody George,' and 'Always has to beat me.'

We joke about Alicia and George for a while, until Katie and Angelina return. We fill them in on the news.

'Damn Alicia! I wanted to be the first one to snog a Weasley!' mutters Angelina. We all turn to look at her.

'Did I say that out loud?' she moans, knowing the answer. We nod and she groans, blushing again.

'You hear that Fred?' says Wood, nudging Fred, who had suddenly looked very happy after Angelina's outburst, 'Maybe you should go polish your wand, and Ange can give you a hand.'

'Ah yeah, Ange, want to help?' says Fred, smiling lopsidedly at Angelina. The Weasleys have identical lopsided smiles. It's kind of creepy actually. Angelina stands up and we immediately start wolf-whistling.

'Don't do anything I wouldn't do!' cries Wood loudly as they head out the portrait hole.

'Be safe!' I cry. We all immediately start laughing.

'Too easy,' says Wood.

A moment later George and Alicia enter the common room, laughing about something. They spot us and head over.

'Hey guys,' says George, smiling lopsidedly. See?

We all look at them expectantly, waiting for an explanation.

'What?' asks Alicia, sitting down opposite me.

'So…' says Max.

'So?' repeats Alicia.

'What's going on with you two?' asks Max, looking backwards and forwards between Alicia and George.

'Nothing,' replies Alicia, shrugging.

'So you just spent the last hour snogging, and there's nothing going on with you?' I ask incredulously.

'Nope, we're just friends… with benefits,' says George, smirking.

'And how long has this been going on?' asks Wood, looking suspiciously between them.

'Since we got back to school,' Alicia says casually. We all stare at them opened mouthed.

'What?!' cries Katie, 'And you haven't told anyone about this?'

We all stare at the two in shock. How could we have not noticed this?

'It's no big deal,' Alicia says.

'No big deal?!' cries Katie, 'Then why didn't you tell us! It is a big deal! You could get hurt! What happens if one of you starts to actually like the other?! Then what?!'

'See, this is exactly why I didn't tell you guys! We know what we're doing okay?' says Alicia forcefully. Katie glares at her.

'Alicia, this is absolutely idiotic! One of you is going to end up getting hurt! You can ever stay just friends in a situation like that!' Katie shouts, getting fired up. Oh dear…

'It has nothing to do with you! Stay out of it!' Alicia replies just as loudly, before storming off towards the girls dormitory.

We all stare after her in shock, and then look at Katie who's sitting there seething, muttering to herself and not looking at anyone.

I don't know why Katie is so mad. It's such an Alicia thing to do. She can't hold a boy for more than a week without getting bored.

There is a tense silence as we process what just happened. I stand up awkwardly, not being able to stand the edgy quiet.

'Uh, I'm going to bed, see you guys tomorrow,' I say before heading off to bed.

What an eventful day.


	3. Strange Situations

Katie and Alicia aren't speaking to each other. Since that night last week, when Alicia announced her and George are 'friends with benefits,' Katie has not spoken to her. Well, except when they first came up into the girls dormitory, and were yelling their heads off at each other. Katie doesn't think what they're doing is a good idea, and Alicia thinks that Katie is overreacting.

Honestly, I think Katie should just keep out of it. It's Alicia's choice what she does with George. I tried pointing this out to her, but she then just got pissed off at me too. In fact, I don't think she's actually speaking to anyone on the quidditch team right now.

Training this week has been painful. Alicia, well, she doesn't like people bitching at her. So she bitches back at them. Meaning that our whole training session ends up being a bitch fight between the two of them. Wood's about to explode. Personally, I don't blame him. I'm getting over their arguing too.

So my plan is to corner Katie, and find out why she _really _has a problem with it.

'Katie!' I call, as I spot her blonde hair walking up the corridor towards the common room. She spins around and scowls at me.

'What?' she asks coolly. I think she must still be mad.

'Can I talk to you for a minute?' She just looks at me for a second, as though sizing me up.

'Fine.'

We head into the common room and find some free seats near the fire. Everyone else must still be at dinner. She sits down with her arms folded and glares at me.

'Okay, I know you're mad at me right now, but please don't be. I wasn't trying to take sides. I just want to know why you're so pissed off about this.'

Katie sighs loudly.

'Alicia is one of my best friends. I don't think what she's doing is good for her.'

'Katie, she knows what she's doing. Alicia would never let anyone hurt her. You should know that.'

'I know. I guess…' she stops for a second and looks down, 'I guess I'm jealous,' she sighs quietly. That wasn't the response I was expecting.

'Jealous? Jealous of what?'

'Jealous of the fact that Alicia can do something like that without worrying about it. She doesn't need constant support. And the fact that its with George.'

'That's just Alicia. She's always been - Wait a minute, do you like George?!' I cry loudly. I look around to make sure no one heard my outburst.

'No! No. I used to,' she says, before pausing for a moment, 'I guess I'm just jealous of the fact that Alicia has managed to keep him entertained for so long without actually acting as his girlfriend.'

I nod in understanding. Katie has never been the most confident of girls.

'Kats, you need a boy.' I say, grinning. She smiles at me.

'I know, I know,' she sighs, 'Anyway I probably should start that transfiguration essay. I'll talk to Alicia when she gets back from dinner, okay?' I nod and watch her go. A moment later Angelina and Fred walk into the common room, holding hands. Ever since the particularly eventful night last week, they've been inseparable. Wood says they're getting to embarrassing to be around. I think they're cute.

They wave to me briefly before heading up to Fred's dormitory. I don't think I'll be going up there for a while.

I yawn loudly, covering my mouth with my hand. I'm extremely tired as I'd stayed up late last night finishing an essay. I figure I can have a bit of rest before Quidditch training. I lean back in the chair and close my eyes.

'Ava! AVA!' comes a voice, and I am shaken roughly. My eyes open quickly and I look up to see Max standing over me.

'What?' I say, rubbing my eyes.

'You were supposed to be at training ten minutes ago,' she says. I don't need telling twice. I jump up, say a hurried 'see you later' and run down to the quidditch pitch. Wood is going to kill me – he's a stickler for punctuality. Why didn't the others wake me?!

I make it down there in about five minutes, and find that the team is just walking out of the change rooms. I stop next to them, and double over to catch my breath.

'Grier!' comes a stern voice. I look up to see Wood looming over me, not looking very happy. He raises an eyebrow at me. 'You do realise that training started 15 minutes ago, I hope?'

I nod and stand up straight, 'Sorry, I fell asleep,' I say. He gives me a rather displeased look.

'Don't let it happen again Grier,' he says before heading back towards the team. I follow.

'Wood thought something had happened to you – he was going insane because you were late!' Alicia mutters to me grinning as I reach her side.

'I only fell asleep!' I say indignantly.

'No, no you're missing the point. Wood was _worried _about _you. _Wood _never_ worries if someone's late. He just complains until they get here. But oh, no, not you Ava. He was asking us to tell him if there was anyone that could have kidnapped you or something. Practically pulling his hair out with worry.'

'If you say so Alicia. I think-'

'Oi! Grier! You're already late – shut up!' Wood says loudly, scowling at me. I roll my eyes and mount my broom.

'You know its true Ava!' Alicia calls to me as we rise into the air. I ignore her.

We have a particularly successful training session. Everyone seems to be working extra well together. After we land, Wood congratulates us, and doesn't even have anything negative to say.

'Grier! Can you help me take this all back. Punishment for being late!' says Wood once he's done talking. Alicia gives me a knowing wink before heading off to change. I roll my eyes after her, before I head over to him and grab a side of the crate of balls.

'Merlin! This is heavy!' I say as we pick it up. And it is! I never knew how heavy the box was before. Wood smirks.

'A bit weak there Grier, huh?' he says. I give him a look.

'No, this is just particularly heavy,' I say defensively.

'No it's not. You're just a weakling,' he smirks, 'I normally carry this by myself.'

As he says this I can't help but notice his bulging biceps. I stare at them for a while, entranced. Man he's strong. And fit. And dreamy…

'Grier? You can stop drooling over my arm,' says Wood smoothly, snapping me out of my thoughts. I blush at having been caught drooling over his muscles.

'I wasn't drooling!' I cry, but wipe my mouth all the same. Wood just gives me a smug look and raises his eyebrows.

'Right, drop it here while I open the door,' says Wood, and we put down the ball crate in front of the quidditch supplies shed. He pulls out his wand and taps at a lock a few times before it springs open. Apparently only the captains are told the code to unlock the shed, because people had been stealing all the equipment.

We lift up the crate and carry it inside the shed. I've never actually been in here before, so I am shocked at how big it is. From the outside it looks tiny. Inside however, there's rows upon rows of balls, broom, bats and anything else that you could possibly need for playing quidditch, in a dimly lit room that looks as though it could hold the entire population of the school. Oh how I love magic.

'Wow,' I think out loud and Wood looks at me.

'Pretty impressive, aye? Never been in here before?' he asks. I shake my head and he grins.

'Captains benefits. Anyway, this way,' he says, pointing to about the third row.

We eventually find a spot to put the crate. I groan as we lift it.

'God you're weak,' says Wood grinning.

'I so am not,' I say, 'I'll prove it.'

I turn around looking for something heavy that I can prove myself with. However all I can see is boxes identical to that which we just returned. No way was I picking up one of them.

'I'll prove- ' I say turning around to come face to face with Wood. And by face to face I mean our noses are almost touching. No idea when he got there.

I blink rapidly and almost fall over backward causing Wood to have to grab me around the waist, pulling me even closer to him. I can feel his breath on my forehead. I make the mistake of looking at him, and find that he's staring straight back at me, an unknown emotion flickering in his eyes.

The air feels tense as neither of us are making any indication of moving away from each other, but are extremely aware of our overly close proximity. My breathing gets heavier and my heart starts hammering in my chest. Wood's eyes flicker to my lips and I realise what's about to happen, yet do nothing to rectify the situation. His hold around my waist tightens, before he slowly starts to lean in, and I do the same without thinking, my eyes closing on the way.

Our lips touch, just as my thoughts catch up with my actions. Why am I letting Wood kiss me? I shouldn't even be _in _this situation. This is Wood, my quidditch captain, the one I can only _just_ tolerate. However, despite all this, I respond to the kiss for a moment before it hits me.

This can't be happening! I shouldn't even be considering responding! I'm not going to snog Wood _again_!

I freeze, and push him away by the shoulders. He looks at me, dazed, for a moment, before his eyes go wide and he runs a hand nervously through his hair.

'_Shit_.' he mutters, stepping even further away. We stand there in an awkward silence for a moment, carefully avoiding each others gazes.

'Uh, I, uh, should be going,' I stutter and dash towards the door. He just stands there in shock.

It isn't until I'm outside that it fully sinks in. Wood has just kissed me, and I kissed him back. And I am completely sober.


	4. Being a Tease

I don't see any of my friends until morning, as I'd headed straight to bed once I'd returned to the common room last night, in a total daze. I'd just been kissed by Wood, and had every intention of kissing him back. What on earth is wrong with me?

'Ava? Are you alright?' asks Max. I'm standing in front of the mirror brushing my hair, as I have been doing for the last 10 minutes because my thoughts keep wandering. I spin around to face her.

'I'm fine,' I snap, immediately regretting it as I see the look on her face. I put down my brush, 'Sorry, I'm just a bit, uh, worked up at the moment.'

'Any particular reason?'

'No.' I say quickly and pick up my bag, 'I'm going to breakfast. Coming?'

She nods and follows me out the door. We reach the common room, to see Oliver descending from his dormitory. I let out a squeak and try to hide behind Max.

'What the hell are you doing?' she asks me, as Wood reaches the bottom stair and spots us. I immediately go red. He smirks at me for a moment in my half hearted attempt at hiding behind Max, who pulls me out from behind her. I avoid his eyes and a moment later he clears his throat.

'Uh, morning,' he says, scratching his head, and not looking directly at us, but still smirking. I resist the urge to glare at him. Apparently he's happy about this little _situation _he's gotten us into. Max looks suspiciously between us.

'What is wrong with you two? Am I missing something?' she asks. Wood just shrugs airily and I shake my head quickly and grab her hand.

'Lets go to breakfast! We don't want all the food to be gone!' I say hysterically, pulling hard on Max's hand so she follows. Wood doesn't say anything, just stands there looking smug. We make it out the portrait hole before she speaks.

'What is going on? You're very jumpy this morning,'

'Nothing ha-' I start to say but she gives me a don't-give-me-that-crap look.

'Ava, I'm not stupid. What happened?' she says slowly. I shake my head.

'You snogged, didn't you?' she says, raising her eyebrows at me and folding her arms.

'We didn't snog! It was just a kiss!'

'You did!' she squeals and I sigh resignedly, 'I knew you fancied him!'

'Shut up! You're so loud! It was only for a second! And I don't fancy him!'

'You do, you do, you do!' she says, a bit quieter.

'I do not!' I say defiantly. And I don't! He's just a person that I happen to have kissed! It doesn't mean anything!

'He definitely fancies you, though.'

'No he doesn't.'

'Yes he does.'

'How do you know?'

'I just know these things. He was looking incredibly smug for someone who had only been kissed for a second!'

I grumble something incomprehensible as we reach the great hall. Wood doesn't like me. I was just in a conveniently located position when he felt the urge to kiss someone. And he's said before he doesn't have enough time for a girlfriend – quidditch is his first priority.

We sit down with Angelina, Katie and Alicia and I try to act more normal. However a moment later Wood arrives with Fred and George and sure enough, they make a beeline straight towards us. Fred manages to squeeze in next to Angelina and Max moves up the seat to make room for Wood. I glare at her. He sits down without looking at me and I don't look at him either.

'Did you hear?' starts George, 'The Chudley Cannons won last night!'

'Yes, but they still don't have much of a chance at the cup,' replies Alicia, 'That's the first game they've won the whole season!'

'I still think the Appleby Arrows have a great chance of winning this year,' says Katie. They carry on for a while about which team will win or not but I stay quiet. I'm all too aware of Wood's extremely close proximity and his every movement.

He moves his leg and it brushes against mine, making me jump, thanks to my complete awareness of him. I keep my eyes down on my breakfast so no one notices I'm blushing. I mean, what the hell is wrong with me! He only touched my leg!

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Wood's mouth curve into a small smile. So he noticed that too huh? I second later it happens again. Again, I jump. I turn my head a little to look at Wood, who I notice is smirking. What the hell is he smirking about? I decide to ignore him, and join in with the conversation.

'The Cannons have amazing chasers though, never miss a goal! says George.

'Yes, but the Arrows have an amazing seeker. It evens it out,' I add. Nobody seems to notice that I haven't been part of the conversation until then. I rest my elbow on the table next to my plate to attempt to block out my view of Wood. But apparently he doesn't like that, because a second later I feel something touching my arm lightly. Wood has decided to copy my position, making our arms touch. I immediately jump and move my arm under the table. I look at him and he raises his eyebrows in a challenging way, smirking.

That's when it hits me: He's doing it on _purpose! _Two can play at that game.

I give him an innocent smile as I find his leg with my hand. I slowly run my hand up and down his inner thigh, getting higher and higher each time.

'Wood? Are you alright?' George asks suddenly. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye to notice him biting his lip rather hard, his eyes wide, and his knuckles going white around his spoon.

'Fine,' he says in a voice higher than normal. I smirk to myself. Payback's a bitch.

Suddenly, something squeezes my knee. I let out a loud squeak and promptly fall backwards off the seat onto the floor. I close my eyes for a second, knowing everyone in the great hall is probably going to be laughing. Bloody Wood!

I open my eyes to see seven faces looming over me, all grinning.

'A bit clumsy today, Ava?' says Fred, who's grinning widely. I groan and sit up.

'Shut up,' I mutter. I notice Wood is smirking hugely at me. Prat. I glare at him. Max is looking at me knowingly, as though she knew exactly what we'd been doing. Damn. I stand up and Max grabs my hand.

'Nice work, Ava. Anyway, we have potions soon. Can you come back to the dorm with me? I left my book there,' she says, and before I can answer I'm being pulled away.

'So, having a bit of fun with Wood under the table?' she says knowingly, looking smug.

'Sod off,' I say, folding my arms.

'You seemed to be getting to him for a moment there,' she raises her eyebrows, waiting for me to elaborate. I don't say anything.

'Fine, fine. I know you like him though!' she says grinning, before running down the corridor. I chase after her.

'I don't like him!' I cry loudly. She just laughs evilly as she reaches the portrait hole.

'Oh, we can go back now. I didn't actually forget my book. By the way, I expect Wood will ask you out within two days.'

I roll my eyes and follow her to the dungeons.

Two days pass and Max is getting anxious. Apparently things weren't going exactly as planned. It's a Saturday and we're in our dormitory. I'm reading, well _trying _to read, laying on my bed, while Max is pacing backwards and forwards.

'He _should _have asked you out by now! I don't get it!' she says, almost pulling her hair out.

'Maybe he doesn't like me,' I say sarcastically, which is what I'd been telling her all along. I ignore the pang in my chest when I say this.

'Ava, of course he does. I know, maybe he's waiting for you to ask him!' she says, clapping her hands together. I sit up abruptly.

'There's no way in hell I'm asking him out, if that's what you're getting at! I mean, I don't even like him!' I say. However, I'm not completely sure that's the truth anymore, because every time I've seen him the past few days, I've felt like jumping him. Not very helpful, especially in the middle of transfiguration. I don't know where all this is coming from. Besides our snogging at the party, we've barely kissed!

'Ava, when are you going to realise you do like him? You were saying his name in your sleep last night!' she says, smirking at me.

'What? No I wasn't!' I cry. I don't even remember what I was dreaming about last night.

'You were. It was a bit of an "Ooh Oliver…"' she says, dreamily. I scowl at her.

'I never call him Oliver, so I think you're making it up,' I say. That much was true. I was in the habit of calling him Wood. I'd always called him that.

'Say whatever you think, I'll record you tonight or something.'

I give her a look before heading to the door.

'I'm going downstairs. Coming?'

We find a seat near the fire, where Max pulls out an essay she was supposed to hand in last week and I pull out the book I'm reading – Quidditch Through The Ages. I've read it way too many times, but I love it. Soon enough I'm absorbed in the book and it takes me a while to notice that Fred, George and Wood have sat down around me. George clears his throat loudly. Max and I turn to look at him.

'So. As you probably already know, it's Alicia's birthday next week,' says George.

'And George here has decided he wants to do something extra special, seeing as she will be 17,' says Fred.

'That's only because he wants to get back in her good books,' mutters Wood.

'What'd he do to be out of her good books?' I ask curiously.

'He snogged Brittany Clarke,' says Fred matter-of-factly. I roll my eyes.

'You idiot,' I say, shaking my head at George. He shrugs.

'Why? It's not like we were going out or anything. She never said we couldn't see other people!'

Fred holds up his hand at George who stops talking.

'Anyway, we need your help.'

'What do you need us to do?' I ask curiously. Helping Fred and George is often not the smartest thing to be doing.

'Well, next Friday night we need you girls to keep her distracted for a while. We also need your help with decorations and everything,' says Fred.

'We'll also need one of you to help us with music – you know more about what she likes and whatnot,' says George.

'I'll do music!' says Max straight away. Good thing too, because I didn't want to do it.

'Okay then. Ava, you and the rest of the girls can do decorations. Fred, Oliver and I will do food and drinks.'

'Where's it going to be?' I ask.

'Room of requirement of course,' replies George.

'Great,' I say nodding. George and Fred stand up to leave.

'We'll be seeing you later,' they say, tipping pretend hats at us and walking away.

'George is such a suck up,' says Max, shaking her head. I laugh.

'I'll say.'

'He needs to be a suck up – Alicia's real pissed at him. She's scary when she's mad,' says Wood, shuddering in fear.

'George is such an idiot – When is he going to realise that Alicia actually likes him?' says Max. I shrug.

'Boys are slow sometimes,' I say.

'I'll say,' says Max, looking pointedly at Wood. He looks confused and shrinks back into his seat.

'What?' he asks, completely out of it, 'What have I done?'

Max says nothing but raises her eyebrow.

'Well, I have to go get some, uh, books from upstairs. I'll be back down later,' she says.

'I'll come too,' I say, starting to stand up. I don't want to be left alone with Wood! Apparently though, this is what Max was planning. She pushes me back down.

'No, no. I'm quite capable of finding the dorm by myself,' she says forcefully, before heading upstairs and leaving an awkward silence behind her. Wood, who's sitting in a chair opposite me, suddenly grins.

'Like your shorts,' he says, smirking. I roll my eyes. I'm wearing the oldest pair of shorts I own. They're really, really short, but they're extremely comfortable. I'm also wearing a large Appleby Arrows jersey, which is longer than the shorts.

'Sod off,' I say, noticing him looking up and down my legs.

'Hey, I was just giving you a compliment,' he says defensively.

'A perverted compliment. You only like them because you can see my legs,' I say, and to prove my point, I stretch my long legs out in front of me, giving him a better view. I notice him glance quickly at them before looking away.

'See?' I say and he scowls.

'You did that on purpose.' He says and I shrug.

'Just proving a point. Keep your eyes to yourself.'

He glares at me then stretches, and as he lifts up his arm, his t-shirt rises to show off his perfect abs. I stare at it in awe, and have to be careful not to drool.

'You keep _your _eyes to yourself,' he says smirking. I blush slightly and look away.

'You did _that _on purpose,' I say accusingly and he shrugs.

'Just proving a point.'

I scowl darkly at him, before leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees, where I know he'll get a good view down my shirt. He looks straight away, and a dazed expression comes over his face as he licks his lips. I stare at him for a moment, waiting for him to look back up. When he does I raise my eyebrow.

'Bloody tease,' he mutters and I grin evilly. I stand up and stretch, knowing he's watching me.

'I'm going upstairs. See you later,' I say, waving at him and his punch-drunk expression. I hear him groan and flop back down into the seat as I reach the stairs. Score one for me!


	5. Training

'Chasers – I want you to practice the Porskoff play. Beaters – You can practice hitting the bludger behind you. Grier – Wronski feint. I know you already know how to do it, but practice. This game is important. The Ravenclaw team is the best they've seen for many years. They can't be taken lightly,' Wood rants at Quidditch training. We have our first game in two weeks and he's been training us harder than ever.

'Before you start though, I want three laps around the pitch – on foot,' he says, indicating for us to get up. We all groan as one.

'Wood, we've still got another week before the match! What's the point in torturing us now!?' cries Katie.

'You need to be ready for anything. Stop complaining!' he says loudly. We all get up, complaining. Running is the worst thing ever.

I brush past Wood on the way out the door, and get tingles down my side. That is starting to get _really _annoying. He smirks at me, obviously knowing what happened. I stomp on his foot and walk out. What? He's being too smug.

We do our three laps and collapse onto the ground. Wood however, just stands there watching us, not tired at all.

'Come on you lot,' he says, 'Get going!'

We all grumble and clamber onto our brooms half-heartedly. It's Thursday, and we've had training every night this week. We're sick of it.

I'm practicing my sloth grip roll, when I hear a shout of 'Alicia!' from below. I quickly scan the pitch and notice a bludger heading straight for Alicia's head. George is speeding after it. Everything seems to happen in slow motion. George swings for the bludger but misses, and falls off his broom. Luckily he wasn't too far from the ground. Alicia seems to freeze as the bludger connects with the side of her head. I hear myself scream as Alicia falls off her broom onto the ground.

I reach her last out of everyone. She looks awful. She's knocked out cold, her face ghostly white and a pool of blood surrounding her head. Sounds dramatic, but that's exactly what it looked like.

George has hobbled over, clutching his leg which appears to be broken, but that seems to be the extent of his injuries. He's gone pale at the sight of Alicia, looks of disgust, shock and guilt crossing his face.

'Oh god, It's all my fault!' cries George frantically looking helplessly at Alicia, 'I should have got to the bluger earlier! I shou-'

'George! It's not your fault! Calm down,' cries Wood as he takes off his shirt to use to hold against Alicia's wound, 'One of you go and get Madam Pomfrey!'

Katie, Alicia and I all immediately run off in the direction of the castle. Less than ten minutes later, Madam Pomfrey is down at the pitch, examining her injuries. We watch silently as she conjures up a stretcher, putting Alicia on it and levitating her up to the castle. Wood and Fred help George along behind her.

'Do you think she'll be alright?' says Katie in a small voice.

'Madam Pomfrey hasn't failed us yet. She'll be fine,' I reply, trying to convince myself as much as Katie.

We eventually make our way up to the hospital wing. Wood and Fred are both sitting in chairs between a lifeless Alicia, and a extremely worried looking George, who's leg seems to be in the process of healing.

'Is she going to be alright?' I ask as we reach them. Katie conjures up chairs for us to sit in.

'Yeah. She has a cracked skull, and heavy concussion, but should be better soon,' replies Wood, smiling slightly. We all sigh in relief, and I lean back in the chair. That's when I notice that Wood is not wearing a shirt. I swallow loudly and stare at his abs, open mouthed for a minute before Angelina pushes my jaw closed.

'Oliver, put a shirt on before Ava starts drooling,' she says loudly. Thanks Angelina. Thanks a lot. Wood turns to me and smirks, before grabbing a shirt from his bag and throwing it on. I'm blushing like mad.

'You need to learn to control that,' says Wood, pointing at me. I scowl at him, my face still red.

'Sod off,' I mutter and he grins. Angelina is looking at me with her eyebrows raised.

'Happened before, has it?' she asks, knowingly.

'Yep,' replies Wood.

'He did it on purpose!' I cry.

'Only because you were doing it to me first!'

'I wouldn't have had to if you weren't such a perve!'

'Its not my fault you were wearing such short shorts!'

'You didn't have to look!' Angelina is looking backwards and forwards between us, looking bemused.

'You didn't have to make me look!'

'I didn't make you look! You did it yourself!'

'Well I can't help that you're fit!'

We all turn and give Wood a shocked look. He looks just as shocked about what he'd said himself. He scratches his head nervously and then Katie bursts out laughing.

'Just snog already!' she manages to gasp out, 'Talk about sexual tension!'

'I'll say! I'm surprised they haven't given into it yet!' says Fred, grinning widely. Wood and I avoid looking at anyone, and don't say anything. I try not to let the fact that I _have _snogged Wood show on my face. Fred and George both stop laughing at once and look between us.

'Is it just me, or do they look guilty?' asks George.

'You know, I think you're right George.'

'Have you two snogged?' asks George, pointing at us with two fingers. Neither of us say anything.

'Out! You're being much too loud!' comes the voice of Madam Pomfrey, making us all jump. Saved by Madam Pomfrey! But when did she get there? 'These patients need rest, which they aren't going to get with you lot here!'

We all jump up and quickly head out the door, leaving George and Alicia behind.

'Well?' asks Fred as we are walking back to the common room. He looks pointedly at me and Wood.

'What?' I ask, trying to act innocent.

'Have you two snogged?'

'No!' I cry too quickly. Fred grins lopsidedly.

'I knew it!' he cries, and does a strange little dance. We all watch him incredulously, 'What?' he asks when he notices us watching him. We all roll our eyes.

'When did it happen?' asks Angelina, grinning evilly.

'It didn't!' I cry and run off down the corridor. I have more of a flight instinct rather than fight when it comes to awkward situations.

I make it back to the common room before the others, and go upstairs to my dormitory. I don't particularly want to face the others right now, especially Wood. Too awkward.

To my utter annoyance however, a few minutes later Angelina and Katie let themselves into the dorm and stare at me accusingly.

'So.' says Angelina, as her and Katie stand with their hands on their hips in front of me, looking intimidating.

'So,' I say back.

'When were you going to tell us?' asks Katie.

'Tell you what?'

'Don't play dumb with us – We know you snogged Wood,' says Angelina. I don't dignify this with a response but fold my arms.

'Twice.'

'He told you!?' I squeak. I'm going to kill him.

'Only because we threatened to hex him unless he did,' says Katie.

'We only properly snogged once!' I say indignantly.

'Is it just me, or does she sound disappointed by that fact?' Katie asked Angelina. Angelina nods and I open my mouth to protest, but I'm interrupted.

'So, now we know what's been going on between you two. You haven't really been normal around each other since that party,' says Angelina, looking smug.

'So, you fancy him then,' states Katie.

'No!' I cry in response. Why does everyone think I do? She raises an eyebrow at me. 'What?! He's a good snogger!' I defend.

Katie snorts loudly, 'You definitely fancy him.'

'Do not,' I mumble to myself, 'Just because I think he's fit and enjoy snogging him does _not _mean I fancy him!'

Katie and Angelina laugh at me for quite some time before they manage to calm down.

'Are you done?' I huff. They sit there grinning.

'And you say you don't fancy him…' says Katie.

'We haven't missed the flirting – we're not stupid you know!' says Angelina.

I let out a cry of frustration and bury my head in my pillow.

'Go away!' I say, into my pillow. I hear them snigger but they don't say anything and a second later I hear the door open and close. They're gone. Thank god.

I don't like Wood. I swear!

I'm sitting with Alicia who has just drifted off to sleep. She's been in the hospital wing for 5 days now, drifting in and out of sleep, depending on the potions Madam Pomfrey gives her. Her head is almost healed but she won't be able to play in our quidditch game next weekend. We're kind of screwed for the match.

I sigh and sit with my head in my hands for a moment. Our first game of the year, and we're a player short! Poor Alicia. She's not happy about this at all. She's said many many times that she feels absolutely fine and that she can play, but Pomfrey says she doesn't want her to damage her head anymore. Grrr.

I get up and leave the hospital wing, knowing that there's no use sitting there, and it's dinner time anyway. I just outside the door when I hear a voice.

'Grier!'

I spin around and come face to face with none other than Wood. He's looking particularly good tonight, wearing a white tshirt that shows off his muscles quite nicely and a pair of jeans. Plus he's hair looks extra touchable…. Gah! I need to stop thinking things like that.

'Hi Wood,' I say and continue walking. He falls into stride with me. Ever since the others found out about us snogging, Wood has been extra cautious around me. I think he thinks I'm looking for revenge on him for telling them.

'So, I got us a substitute chaser for Saturday,' he starts. I had no idea he'd even been looking.

'Really? Who?'

'Jacob Henry. He's in our year. You know him?' asks Wood. I suddenly perk up.

'The hot one?!' I say excitedly. Wood scowls at me. Jacob Henry is similar looking to Wood in a way, but more rugged looking. His hair is darker too, and he's slightly shorter though, and more wiry. Not that I've been checking him out or anything…

'Right. He's no where near as good as Alicia, but he'll do for the weekend. He's starting training with us tomorrow.'

'He does know that it's only for one game right?'

'Yeah, he knows that. He's doing it as a favour.'

'Alrighty. You think we can get him up to scratch before the match?'

'Hopefully. We'll try our best anyway. As long as you catch the snitch nice and early we'll be fine.'

'Urgh. No pressure or anything,' I cringe. I hate knowing I have to catch the snitch asap. Oliver grins.

'No pressure at all.'

Brilliant. Now the fate of the Gryffindor quidditch team is rested in me catching the snitch nice and early.

I head down to training the next evening with Katie. She's chattering non-stop about some boy in Ravenclaw. I've missed half the conversation, and don't even know the guys name.

'We walked down to lunch together and he was just hilarious. I haven't laughed that much in ages. And then he told me he liked my skirt even though it's uniform and when I pointed that out he said it looks much better on me than anyone else. Isn't that sweet? And then he offered to teach me how to do the spell I couldn't do properly in charms today. And-'

She continues on like this until we reached the quidditch pitch, where she stops abruptly. I never realised she could talk so much! She must really like the guy.

'Right everyone,' says Wood once we'd gathered around after getting changed, 'This is Jacob Henry and he's going to be subbing for Alicia this weekend.' He gestures to Jacob who is standing beside him. Jacob grins widely at everyone and winks. 'You already know everyone?'

Jacob nods, 'How could I not? Fred and George, everyone knows them. Katie and Angelina, the superb chasers and Ava the gorgeous seeker,' he says gesturing to everyone in turn. I could have sworn he winked at me.

'Great. Now we're going to do our regular drills. Henry – you join in with Katie and Angelina here, they'll tell you what to do. Get going everyone!'

Without further ado, we all speed skyward. Training passed pretty ordinarily, although I could swear Jacob kept looking at me and winking. He was a pretty good player, but Wood was right – definitely not as good at Alicia.

'Not bad at all everyone,' says Wood after we've landed, 'As long as we keep this up, we may have a chance of winning, even without Alicia. Now get changed.'

I get changed quickly and head out the door. Angelina and Katie are taking ages and I can't be bothered to wait.

'Ava?' comes a deep voice from behind me just as I go to leave the quidditch pitch. I turn around to see Jacob standing behind me. I immediately notice just how good-looking he is.

'Oh, hey!' I say, feeling slightly nervous, although I don't know why. He grins and comes and walks next to me.

'Looking forward to the game on Saturday?' he asks.

'Yeah, but it'll be weird without Alicia,' I sigh, 'Nothing against you of course. From what I can tell you're definitely not a bad chaser.'

'Thanks, babe,' he says throwing an arm over my shoulder. I raise my eyebrows and frown. Very full on for a guy I've barely ever talked to before. Although I can't say I mind the attention from him. He is quite attractive after all, and a break from Wood.

'So, do you play quidditch much?' I ask conversationally.

'Yeah, during the summer me and my brother play all the time,' he replies, 'You're a brilliant seeker you know.'

'Uh, thanks.'

'Not to mention very attractive.'

He looks down at me and we stop walking.

'Thanks…'

'Do you have a boyfriend?'

'Uh, no,' I reply tentatively.

'Great. Because I've heard some stuff about you, and I want to know if it's true,' he says. I look at him, completely confused.

'What have you-' I start but am cut of as he presses his lips against mine.

I respond slowly, not sure what he's expecting. However, he pulls me closer against him, and we end up snogging. During which, I can't help but imagine it's Wood that I'm snogging. I must be going crazy. I honestly need to stop thinking about Wood. Maybe kissing Jacob will prove to be a good distraction.

'Definitely true,' he breathes into my ear, before he continues kissing me. Who's been spreading rumours about my kissing skills?

I don't have long to contemplate this though, because as I'm kissing him back, I hear a noise. Like footsteps, then what sounds remarkably like a growl. I pull away from Jacob and peer over his shoulder. Standing there is a completely horror-struck Wood, who looks as though he wants to murder someone. Jacob apparently hasn't noticed him, because he tries to keep kissing me, but I push him away and clear my throat. Jacob turns around and notices Wood, his mouth making an 'o' shape.

'Bloody hell, Henry, doesn't take you long does it?' Wood says snidely.

'What do you mean-' starts Jacob, but Wood gives him a look and he shuts up.

'You've been to one training session, and already you've managed to hook up with my seeker. Nice work.'

'What the-'

'God, is the only reason you wanted to join the team in the first place so you could get with her? That's low, Henry. Real low.' His expression darkens as he glares at Jacob. Jacob just stands there looking shocked. I stand there watching this exchange incredulously. Wood is definitely not very happy at all.

'Bloody hell Wood, shut up!' says Jacob loudly, just as Wood is about to start talking again, 'In case you haven't noticed, Ava is extremely attractive. I'd heard things about her, uh, abilities. I wanted to see if the things I'd heard were true. Which they are.' He finishes off by smirking. I'm starting to get rather annoyed by this conversation. I open my mouth to protest but Wood cuts me off.

'I know,' snaps Wood, apparently without thinking. He furrows his eyebrows in annoyance at himself for letting that slip. Jacob goes to open his mouth, but Wood starts talking over him, 'I thought you were going out with that Ravenclaw chick, anyway.'

Jacob shrugs, 'I am.'

I look at him in shock. He'd just cheated on his girlfriend? With me? I growl inwardly.

'Then what the bloody hell are you doing kissing Grier?'

'Like I said, I wanted to see if the rumours were true,' he smirks. I glare even harder at him. Bastard. I thought he was actually interested in me or something. Apparently not.

'Bugger off, Henry,' says Wood, as Jacob continues to smirk and walks away. Bloody prick. I just stand there for a moment, watching him walk away. Wood does the same before turning to me and folding his arms.

'What?' I ask defensively.

'Bloody hell, Grier. What were you thinking?'

'I wasn't, all right?'

'And what has he heard about you?' he asks, looking at me accusingly.

'I was hoping you could answer that,' I reply, folding my arms. After all, the only people who are able to spread rumours like that are Wood or Luke.

'Well, I haven't said anything. How many o_ther _people have you snogged lately?' he asks, in a tone which I don't like. An accusing tone that is clearly implying that I've been getting around a lot lately.

'Are you implying what I think you're implying?' I growl, my anger level rising.

'You haven't convinced me otherwise. I'd chosen to ignore the rumours I've heard up until now, which are most probably the ones Henry heard, but now I'm starting to think they may have some element of truth. And this little display here with Henry definitely does not help your case. So maybe I am implying that you're turning into a little slag.' he sneers. I see red, and before I know it, I've slapped him across the cheek. He looks as me, shocked, his hand flying to his cheek.

'For your information, Wood, I've only _ever _snogged three people. So don't go accusing me of things you know _nothing _about,' I snap, before turning on my heel and walking away, fuming.

How _dare _he accuse me. I'm not – I never – ARGH! I need to punch something. Bloody Wood and his bloody stupid ideas. He has no idea about anything!

And what was with these rumours that I've just heard about? Who the hell would be spreading rumours about me?

I stomp angrily up to the common room, and straight up to the dorm, throwing myself face down onto my bed, still seething. I punch my pillow multiple times, silently cursing Wood, and whoever the hell the shit is that's spreading rumours about me.

'Ava?' comes a tentative voice from behind me a while later, that I recognise as Katie's. I've calmed down a bit, although I occasionally punch my pillow. I grunt to show I'm listening.

'Um, what exactly did you do to Wood? Only, he's been walking around in a daze for a while, holding his cheek and not answering when we talk to him. The only word we've managed to get from him was "Bloody Grier" so we assumed it had something to do with you.'

I groan and turn around to face Angelina, Katie and Max.

'Do you know what he called me?' I ask them, totally ignoring what they just said.

'What?' replies Angelina.

'A slag.' I spit. Their reactions would have been comical, had I not been in such a foul mood. Angelina gasps and puts her hands to her mouth. Katie's eyes widen and her jaw drops and Max starts swearing under her breath.

'I'm going to kill that boy,' mutters Max, and starts to make her way towards the door. Katie, however, holds her back.

'Maybe we should hear the whole story?' she asks cautiously. I roll my eyes.

'I got into a fight with him. Apparently someone's been spreading rumours about me, and that I proved them by kissing Jacob – don't say a _word_ – because Wood caught us. We then got into a bit of an argument, and he called me a slag so I slapped him.' I say, ignoring their scandalized faces over the fact that I kissed Jacob. I'd quite like to forget about that.

'That's no reason to call you a slag! And what's with these rumours?' cries Angelina, indignantly.

'I have no idea. First Jacob mentioned them – the reason he kissed me; he wanted to "know if the rumours were true" and then Wood said that he was starting to believe them now, which makes me think someone's been spreading stuff about my kissing abilities or something, among other things. And I have no idea who it could be.'

The girls look thoughtful for a minute, and I admire in their lack of questions, which I honestly don't want to answer right now. My main aim is to work out who the hell is spreading the rumours so I can harm them!

'It wasn't Wood, was it? I mean, you have snogged him,' asks Max. I shake my head.

'As much as I don't like him right now, I know he wouldn't do something like that.'

'Does anyone have any reason to have a grudge against you?' asks Angelina. I think hard for a while.

'Not that I can think o-' I stop with a gasp and sit up straight, 'Luke!'

'Oh my god you're right! It's got to be him!' exclaims Angelina.

'He'd definitely be mad you dumped him!' cries Katie.

'We'll talk to him tomorrow,' Max says darkly, and I can already tell she's plotting some sort of revenge on him.

We have a little bitch session about Luke, which totally convinces us it's him before we one by one, fall asleep.


	6. Intimidation

We (being Katie, Angelina, Max and I) are walking down to the great hall at dinner, ready to accuse Luke. I don't know how they got me to agree to this. Something must seriously be wrong with my brain.

We're walking in a V formation, in an attempt to look intimidating. In reality I think we look pretty stupid, but Max insisted it was necessary. We reach the Gryffindor table and surround the area where Luke is sitting. I half hide behind Max, who's standing at the front of the group with her hands on her hips.

'Hi Luke,' she says, a little too politely. He frowns at us, looking confused.

'Hi...' he replies unsurely.

'Now, we need your help with something. You see, Ava here has been getting a lot of unwanted male attention the past few days. And it turns out that someone has been spreading rumours about her. You wouldn't happen to know the source of these rumours would you?'

Luke smirks slightly, looking pleased with himself.

'I may have said some things about her. She can't expect to break up with me, and have me just sit back at accept it,' he says cockily. I scowl at him.

'What have you been saying?'

'Well, that she'll snog anything that moves.'

In unison, all us girls glare at him. He has absolutely no right to be spreading things like that about me!

Max whips out her wand and takes a step closer to him.

'You say anything else about her, and you're done for,' she snarls at him. She's scary when she's mad. Luke actually looks a bit scared by her. He leans away from her slightly with wide eyes that are darting all over the place, 'And now you're going to stand up on your seat and announce to everyone that you're a liar and anything you've said about Ava Grier is complete crap.'

Luke seems to gulp as Max's wand touches his throat. He stands up slowly on his chair and clears his throat loudly. The majority of the students turn to look at him. Even a few of the teachers glance up, probably worried something of a riot was going to start.

'Um, I'd like to say that,' he starts timidly, his eyes darting back down towards where Max is standing beneath him, wand pointed at his throat, 'That, um, anything I've said about Ava Grier is a lie and, um, don't listen to anything I say.'

Max takes her wand away and nods at him and he sits down looking mortified. Serves him right. The whole hall bursts into laughter, before returning to their conversations. The teachers all look away, obviously not bothered by what had just happened.

'Now you can apologise to Ava,' says Max, staring him down. He sighs audibly and turns to me.

'I'm sorry Ava. I guess I was just upset that we broke up,' he mutters, looking like a little kid who'd been caught doing the wrong thing. I am surprised that Max has so much power over him. He really is just a big wuss. I give him a look and we all turn and head to the other end of the table, where Fred, George, and Wood are sitting.

'I see you put Marshall back in his place,' says Fred, clapping Max on the back as we sit down around them. Somehow I get stuck next to Wood, 'He's been a right bastard to Ava lately. Those rumours were a load of crap.'

I smile appreciatively at Fred, and glance at Wood out of the corner of my eye. His face is completely void of any expression, a clear sign that he's hiding whatever he's feeling. I can't believe he actually believed the stupid rumours! Surely he knows I'm better than that?

'Alicia is getting released from the hospital wing very soon,' says George excitedly, 'Meaning we should probably finalise the stuff for her party now. We all ready to go ahead tomorrow?'

We all nod enthusiastically. Angelina, Katie and I have been sorting out the decorations all week. We've gone for a purple and silver theme, which are her two favourite colours.

'I've just got to get the last lot of music together tonight and then I'll be ready,' says Max. George grins lopsidedly at everyone.

'Brilliant. We'll need you girls to keep her occupied tomorrow afternoon while me, Fred and Oliver go and collect the food and drinks. You can do that, can't you?'

'Sure, we'll just tell her we're having a girls day in or something. Easy,' says Angelina, waving a hand airily, 'Anyway, what do you say we go and meet her?'

We all wait outside the Hospital Wing, ready to surprise Alicia when she walks out. We don't have to wait long until we hear a 'Thanks Madam Pompfrey,' and the door opens.

'Alicia!' We all exclaim at the same time and crowd around her in a massive group hug. She laughs at our antics.

'Hey guys,' she says as we all break away and look at her.

'How you feeling babe?' asks George, slinging an arm around her waist. Alicia scowls at him and pushes his arm away.

'Fine,' she says, smiling at everyone besides him. Apparently she's _still_ not happy with him. George pouts like a little baby.

'Come on Alicia, I said I was sorry! I didn't realise you'd be this mad, or else I would never have done it!' says George, looking as though he was going to drop down on his knees and beg for forgiveness any moment. Alicia says nothing to him, but turns to the rest of us.

'So, what's been happening lately? I haven't really heard much about anything since I've been out of it.'

'Well, we have a chaser to replace you for the game next Saturday,' says Katie.

'Ooh, who?'

'Jacob Henry,' says Angelina.

'The good-looking one?' asks Alicia. Wood glances at me out of the corner of his eye, but I say nothing.

'Yeah,' replies Angelina, earning a scowl from Fred.

'So how did he go at training then?'

'He's alright – nothing on you of course,' says Katie.

'Yeah, I wouldn't catch you snogging Grier two seconds after you met her,' mutters Wood. Unfortunately, everyone hears him and Fred, George and Alicia, being the only ones who don't know, whip around to look at me in shock.

'Ava! You snogged him?' shrieks Alicia, rounding on me.

'Mmhmm,' I say, not as excited about it as she is.

'How was it?!'

'He only kissed me to find out if Luke's stupid rumours were true,' I say, annoyed. Wood raises his eyebrows at me, but I ignore him.

'Oh,' says Alica, then –'What rumours?'

I sigh loudly and tell her.

'What a prat!' exclaims Alicia, outraged on my behalf. I smile and tell her about how Max had gotten revenge on him.

'Nice one Max!' she cries. She sure is enthusiastic about everything today.

'It was bloody brilliant,' says Fred, 'He stood up on the chair in the middle of the meal and everything.'

We wander back to the common room, filling Alicia in on everything that has happened. We are about to enter through the portrait hole, when I'm pulled back. Wood is holding onto my arm, waiting for the others to enter. George gives us a weird look, but Wood smiles sarcastically at him, so he shrugs and enters the common room. I turn around to face Wood, scowling.

'What?' I snap at him. A weird expression crosses his face.

'Look I just wanted to apologise. What I said to you yesterday, well, it was bang out of order,' he says, looking at me with big eyes.

'No shit,' I say and continue to scowl at him. He ignores me.

'I swear to god I didn't mean any of it. I was just pissed off and wanted to make you mad. I'm sorry,' he says, his voice getting softer at the end.

'Why were you pissed off then?' I ask.

'You were snogging Henry,' he mutters, looking away from me.

'So…?'

'So, I don't know. It just pissed me off. Like you'd snog any random guy without thinking twice about it,' he sighs.

'I've snogged you before,' I point out.

'Yes, but I'm not some random guy. You actually know me.'

'So? It's not like I'm going out with you or anything. There's really no difference between snogging you and Jacob,' I say bluntly. Wood looks pained.

'I suppose. I just didn't like seeing you snogging him is all,' he says.

'You'd rather I snogged you?' I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.

'Well yes – no, what?' he says, looking at me startled.

'You're jealous,' I say, grinning.

'No, I- No, What!' he cries, apparently losing the ability to speak in coherent sentences. I cackle gleefully.

'You are!' I exclaim, laughing at him. He scratches his head nervously.

'Only a bit!' he cries indignantly, 'I like snogging you – there's nothing wrong with that!'

I continue to cackle, as this revelation brings me great amusement. I don't know why, but the fact that I'm not the only one who enjoyed our snogging sessions makes me feel strangely happy.

'Will you shut up?' he says exasperatedly, 'It's not that funny!'

'Oh, but it is!' I cry and he shakes his head at me in a you're-absolutely-insane way. I skip off to the common room with Wood following behind me.

'Don't tell anyone else about this, okay? I don't get jealous!' he calls from behind me. I say nothing but enter the common room, still laughing loudly.

'What did Wood do now?' asks George as I take a seat. This causes me to laugh even more hysterically and lose my ability to answer. Wood takes a seat next to me, scowling.

'She's just being insane,' grumbles Wood, 'I didn't think it was that funny!'

'Oh- but-it-is! He's jealous!' I gasp out between bursts of laughter. Wood growls at me.

'Jealous of what?' asks Fred, cocking an eyebrow at Wood. Wood doesn't say anything.

'That Ava has snogged other people besides him?' guesses Max, grinning manically.

I manage to nod and Max's grin gets wider. Katie turns to Wood and puts a hand on his shoulder.

'Don't worry Wood. She said the other day, and I quote, "Just because I think he's attractive and enjoy snogging him does _not _mean I fancy him!"'

This sobers me up immediately. I turn and glare at Katie, while Wood looks at me, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

'So you think I'm attractive and you enjoy snogging me, huh?' he asks, apparently over the fact that I told everyone he was jealous.

'No! I do _not _enjoy snogging you!' I exclaim, not looking at him.

'Guys, I think we should leave them to it,' says Max, and the rest stand up leaving Wood and I alone. I scowl after her. Best friend, my arse.

I determinedly not look at him by folding my arms and turning away. I hear him sniggering behind me.

'What!?' I exclaim, spinning around to face him. Bad idea. His face is less than an inch away from mine, and our noses are practically touching. I feel his breath on my face and my heart speeds up. Not again.

Being the total and utter idiot that I am, I don't move an inch as he leans in. I know what's coming, yet I do nothing about it. In fact, as our lips meet, I kiss him back forcefully. Shouldn't I be pulling away now?

I soon find myself trapped underneath him, where we're engaged in some sort of battle of the tongues. I have no bloody self control whatsoever. Quite some time later, which feels too soon to me, he pulls away, smirking.

'I thought you didn't enjoy snogging me?' he asks cockily, standing up and straightening his clothes. I let out a growl of frustration as he heads up to the boys dormitory.

He's going to be the death of me.

I roll off the couch and onto the floor, where I pick myself up from and head up to my dormitory. I stomp my feet in frustration the whole way up, and take particular care to slam the door loudly. I want everyone to know how mad I am with myself right now.

I come face to face with Katie, Alicia, Angelina and Max as I turn in the direction of my bed. They're standing in a line, grinning widely. I glare at them all, and attempt to push past them, but my arm is grabbed by Max.

'So, how was it?' she asks.

'How was what?' I reply, playing dumb. They all roll their eyes at me.

'We're not dumb, you know,' says Angelina.

'For a start we _saw _you snogging Wood just then, and the whole slamming of the doors proves it,' says Katie.

'So?' I say.

'You've finally figured out you fancy him then?' asks Max, looking smug.

'I do not fancy him!' I exclaim. Honestly, when are they going to get that fact through their thick heads?

There's suddenly a loud crash and the Weasley twins fall into the room, holding brooms.

'Ava, Ava, Ava. You are in denial,' says George, coming and standing next to Alicia who ignores him.

'Did Wood say anything to you?' Angelina asks them. They shake their heads.

'He came barrelling into the dorm, muttering to himself and growling, occasionally saying Ava's name, before storming into the bathroom,' says Fred.

'You're really getting to him you know,' George tells me, grinning. Aha. So he wasn't quite as composed as he made out to be. I smirk to myself.

'When are you two going to realise you fancy each other?' asks Fred, bringing me away from my moment of triumph.

'I _don't _fancy him!' I exclaim, for the millionth time. They just don't take the hint.

'Sure you don't,' says Max sarcastically. I don't dignify this with a response, as I'm getting sick of trying to convince them.

'Can I just go to sleep now?' I ask wearily. They nod and move apart.

'Have sweet dreams…' says George.

'About Wood!' says Fred, and they all snigger to themselves as they leave the dormitory. So-called friends.


	7. Ah, Young Love

I am woken up by a _very_ excited Alicia in the morning. She's bounding on the end of my bed shrieking, 'It's my birthday!' She's like a 2 year old, that one.

I groan loudly and sit up before throwing a present at her that's sitting on my bedside table. She claps enthusiastically.

'Thanks Ava!' she exclaims. I roll my eyes at her.

'Calm down before you hurt yourself,' I tell her. She just grins at me and goes and sits on the floor in the middle of the dorm where there's already a pile of presents.

Katie, Angelina and Max are all rubbing tired eyes as they sit up sleepily like me. We watch as Alicia rips the wrapping off a long present, which is apparently from her parents. She then shrieks loudly, and we all wince at the sound.

'A firebolt!' she exclaims, holding up the broom to show us.

Soon enough she's unwrapped a new top from Angelina, a book on beauty spells from Katie, a big box of Berty Botts every flavour beans from Max and a book on quidditch from me. She runs around the room, hugging us all then proceeds to fly down the stairs to the common room shouting, 'It's my birthday!'

'We still have class though, so I suggest we head down for some breakfast,' says Katie, as we come up behind her. Alicia shrugs and we head off for some food.

Wood, Fred and George are already sitting at the table, smiling widely at Alicia.

'Happy Birthday!' they exclaim, as we sit down.

'So, how does it feel to be 17?' asks Fred.

'Brilliant!' exclaims Alicia.

Once classes are finished, Angelina, Katie, Max and I kidnap Alicia, and take her back to our dormitory. Fred, George and Oliver are in the room of requirement finalising everything for the party. They somehow managed to let the majority of the 7th years know about it without anyone spilling to Alicia.

We muck around in our dormitory for a while, giving each other make overs. Genius, aren't we? At about 7.30 we decide it's time to head down.

'What do you say we go show George what he's lost?' I say to Alicia. Her long hair is perfectly curled, eyes shining and she's wearing a black mini dress. She nods enthusiastically.

'Bastard,' she mutters as we make our way down to the common room. We manage to convince Alicia that George will be wandering the halls aimlessly, and so we drag her off to the room of requirement. After pacing backwards and forwards three times in front of it thinking 'I need a place for a party,' a door appears.

Alicia looks at it curiously for a moment before hesitantly opening it. She takes a step inside and suddenly there's a loud chorus of 'Surprise!'

We enter behind her to find her frozen. She simply stares at the room for a moment before bursting out into laughter.

'You guys are the best!' she exclaims to the room at large.

Soon enough everyone's chattering away. Alicia is talking loudly to us over the music.

'This is amazing guys!' she says, indicating the decorations, food and the overall party.

'It was George's idea!' Max says back, raising an eyebrow. Alicia sighs.

'I suppose I should go thank him, shouldn't I.' she states in a resigned voice. We all nod enthusiastically and follow her over to where Fred and George and standing, laughing loudly.

'Ladies!' exclaims George, grinning widely at us. He then looks specifically at Alicia, 'Alicia,' he adds hesitantly. She stares at him for a moment before breaking out into a grin and throwing her arms around his neck. He looks surprised for a moment but then eagerly hugs her back.

'This is the best birthday ever!' Alicia shouts and George's grin gets even bigger as Alicia plants a kiss on his lips. We figure it's probably a good idea to leave them alone, so Max, Angelina, Katie, Fred and I all head elsewhere.

'Want to dance?' Fred asks, offering a hand to Angelina. She nods and giggles, before taking his offered hand and being lead to the dance floor.

Max, Katie and I all look at each other.

'So, we're the loner's huh?' says Max. I spot someone over Max's head.

'You and me are, but Katie here is not,' I say. Katie spins around wildly, before coming face to face with the guy in Ravenclaw she's spent the last couple of weeks gushing about. She grins shyly at him, before letting him lead her to the dance floor.

'Then there were two,' I sigh.

'We really need to find ourselves some guys,' she says. I nod in agreement.

'I'll say. This is rather depressing.'

'You could just go snog Wood, you know,' she suggests, smirking at me. I glare back at her.

'No thanks. I'd rather snog the giant squid.'

'I'm sure,' she says skeptically before scanning the room, 'You know, I think I'm going to go try my luck with that guy,' she indicates a rather good looking boy on the other side of the room.

'Fine, leave me to be a loner then,' I huff, folding my arms. She just grins innocently at me.

'I'm sure you'll find someone to dance with,' she says in a sing-song voice before skipping off. Damn best friend.

Now by my lonesome little self, I half-heartedly drag myself towards the drinks table. I grab a cup of firewhiskey, and down it in one go, hoping it'd make the night go a little faster. It burns a path down my throat and I cough slightly.

'Slow down there Grier,' comes a familiar voice from behind me, accompanied by a hand on my back, 'We don't want you to go snogging random boys now.'

I turn around and scowl at Wood, knowing he's referring to the last party where I ended up snogging him. He smirks at me.

'Piss off. I don't want to talk to you,' I snap him, and after grabbing another drink I attempt to push past him. He apparently has other plans however, because he grabs my arms and turns me back around to face him.

'Why not?' he asks, but he doesn't sound annoyed by the fact that I snapped at him. In fact, he's still smirking.

'Because I don't like you,' I reply, struggling to pull myself out of his grip. He laughs.

'You've said that so many times that it's lost all meaning. Especially after you've snogged me multiple times,' he says cockily. I scowl.

'I didn't snog _you, _you snogged _me_!' I say.

'Doesn't mean you didn't kiss me back and enjoy it,' he says, taking a long sip of his drink.

'I did _not _enjoy it,' I say indignantly.

'I'm sure,' he says, leaning closer to me, 'So if I kiss you right now, you won't enjoy it. Is that right?'

I gulp at his extremely close proximity. His lips are less than an inch away from my ear, and I can feel him breathing on me.

'Yes,' I reply in a shaky voice, which doesn't really help my case. He leans back slightly and raises his eyebrows.

'Uhuh,' he says, looking down at me, 'Are you sure about that?' He leans even closer to me, and for some reason I don't move back at all.

'Very,' I squeak and he tilts his head to the side.

'Right,' he says softly, before bringing his lips down onto mine.

I groan inwardly at my enthusiastic response. Seriously, I'm trying to prove that I _don't _like kissing him, yet I have to go and start kissing him back straight away. I scowl at myself, yet I don't pull away.

He however, does. He keeps an arm around my waist though, and smirks down at me. I don't look at him as I am too busy cursing myself. Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!

'Really convincing, Grier,' he whispers too me, as I suddenly hear clapping. I groan and turn my head to see Fred, George, Max, Angelina, Alicia and Katie, grinning widely at us.

'Ah, young love,' says Fred, wiping an invisible tear away from his eye. I glare at him while Wood smirks. I push Wood away from me, as his arm is still around my waist.

'You can't just go around snogging people!' I exclaim, glaring at him. He rolls his eyes.

'I'm not going around snogging _people,_ I'm going around snogging _you_.'

'Well can you not?'

'You didn't seem to mind while you were _moaning,_' he says arrogantly. I growl at him before storming off.

Bloody Wood. Thinks he can just expect me to be there for a snog whenever he feels like. I don't even _like _snogging him! Prat. He's making me completely confused. I don't like him, yet I let him kiss me. What on earth is wrong with me?!

'Oi! Grier! Wait up!'

I growl again when I hear the voice. A moment later I hear footsteps getting louder before they finally stop. I slowly turn around to face him, a scowl clear on my face.

'_What?_' I snap at Wood, and he just grins.

'Don't tell me your pissed off at me for kissing you? Come on, admit you liked it.'

'I did _not_,' I say defiantly, 'And I _am _pissed off at you. You can't just keep randomly snogging me.'

'Making you confused am I?'

'Ye – no, What?'

'You can't decide whether you like me or not – you don't want to as a matter of principle but you can't help but notice that when we kiss you _highly _enjoy it,' he says, continuing to smirk.

'I do _not _like you. And I don't like kissing you!'

'That's not what Katie told me the other day. And she never lies,' he says. Bloody Katie. She'll be in for it later.

'So was she lying when she said you fancied me?' I ask, smirking after having turned this conversation around on him. He gives me a startled look.

'What makes her think _that_?'

'The way you act around me, apparently,' I shrug.

'I don't _fancy _you. I just like snogging. _Nothing _to do with you.'

'Uhuh,' I say, raising an eyebrow and taking a step closer to him. He automatically steps back and I smirk. Who's in control of the situation now, huh? I take another step forward, and again he steps back, a sightly nervous look crossing his face. I take one last step forward and his back hits the wall. His eyes are darting all over the place, apparently not sure where to look.

'So nothing I do affects you at all?' I ask him, my voice sounding lower than normal. He says nothing, but his eyes go wide as I press myself up against him. Two can play at his game. I do nothing for a moment, except shift subtly to the side of him, before I run a hand lightly down his arm. I notice him gulp. He's staring down at me, barely moving.

I slowly start to lean towards him, watching as he too starts to lean in. However, instead of kissing him like I'm dying to do, I lean towards his ear.

'I really believe you now,' I murmur, before mustering all my self control and moving away from him. He stands there, dumbstruck, and I smirk, 'I'm supposed to be at a party. Bye, Wood.'

I skip off, back in the direction of the Room of requirement, still smirking. It isn't until I'm about halfway down the corridor, that I hear a loud crashing sound, followed by a stream of curses and a rather loud 'Bloody tease!'

Payback's a bitch, Wood.


	8. A Particularly Eventful training

I wake up in the morning in a particularly good mood. I think it partly has to do with getting the better of Wood last night. I skip to the shower, wondering why the dorm is so empty. That's when I remember. Wood had scheduled a quidditch practice for 7.30. And it is now 7.45.

'Shit!' I exclaim, quickly throwing on some clothes and pulling my hair into a pony tail. I dash down the stairs two at a time, and sprint the way to the pitch. Wood's going to kill me. And why did no one wake me up!?

I arrive just as the team leaves from the change room. Wood comes out last, and notices me, raising his eyebrows.

'Grier! You're late!' he shouts, coming to stand in front of me.

'No one woke me!' I say as he glares down at me.

'10 laps. On foot. GO!' he says, clearly not very happy with me. I don't move though, and just stand there glaring at him.

'Or what?' I ask, folding my arms.

'Or you'll be off the team.'

'But then you'll be without a seeker _and _a chaser,' I say. Wood glares at me.

'Grier, get going,' he says then pauses, as though thinking of a punishment, 'Or I'll kiss you.'

He smirks, thinking he's won. I stare at him for a moment, weighing my options. Either I run the laps like a good girl, or I don't and he'll kiss me, giving him the opportunity to rub in the fact that I do respond a little too enthusiastically for someone who supposedly doesn't enjoy snogging him. I decide to go for the first option.

'Fine, I'm going,' I say, and he looks, dare I say it, disappointed. I take off running.

'10 laps!' he shouts after me. I stick my middle finger up at him over my shoulder.

7 laps later, I'm close to collapsing with exhaustion. Bloody Wood. I'm now wishing I'd just let him kiss me and have it over with. The rest of the team is up in the air, enjoying a perfectly normal training session while I'm stuck down here, suffering.

Jacob is being yelled at constantly by Wood. Apparently Wood still hasn't gotten over the whole snogging me thing.

The teams gets called down for the end of training, and I'm _still _running. Who knew 10 bloody laps would take so long. Every muscle in my legs is screaming in protest, and I don't know if I'm going to make the last three laps. I watch everyone disappear into the changing rooms, as I complete my 8th lap. One by one they emerge, and I get tireder and tireder. I'm puffing like crazy, reminding myself of my grandmother.

I finally reach the end of my tenth lap and collapse on the floor. I close my eyes and breathe heavily and my legs ache like mad.

I lay there for a while, until I notice a shadow appear over me. I open my eyes and notice Wood standing over me. The first thing I notice is that he's shirtless.

He watches as I very clearly check him out, eyebrows raised and a smirk playing across his face. When I finally realise what I'm doing I snap my eyes back up to his face.

'Done checking me out?' he asks, holding out a hand to help me up. I ignore it and stand up myself.

'I was _not _checking you out,' I say and he rolls his eyes.

'Sure Grier, sure. Hurry up and get changed, I want to head back up to lunch,' I scowl at him and make my way to the change rooms. I purposely take an extra long time, knowing that Wood has to lock up after the last player leaves.

I hop in the shower, and let the hot water sooth my aching muscles. I stand there for quite some time.

'Grier! Hurry up!' Wood shouts from out in the change rooms. I ignore him and continue to lets the water rush over me.

'Grier!' he shouts in a warning voice, 'Don't make me come in there!'

I smirk at this, knowing he'd get a shock if he did. However, I'd rather not have him see me in the shower, so I hop out and after wrapping a towel around myself I head back into the changing area.

I'm expecting no one to be in there as it's the girls change room. However Wood is leaning in the doorway waiting. I watch as Wood's eyes slowly take in my appearance. My hair is dripping wet, hanging lose down my shoulders. I have nothing on but a white towel which barely reaches my mid thigh. I resist the urge to laugh at Wood's expression, which is a mixture between punch-drunk and annoyed.

I head over to my bag, pulling out my clothes to change. He continues to stand there, staring at me.

'Um, Wood? Would you mind turning around? Only, I've got nothing on under this,' I say sweetly. His eyes go wide and he backs away slowly.

'Just turn around Wood,' I say, and he spins around to face the other wall. I slip my underwear on under my towel, just in case he's peeking, and then drop my towel to the floor.

'Bugger,' I say, loud enough for Wood to hear. I hear rustling from the corner and looking over my shoulder I notice Wood has turned back around. I turn to face him.

'Did I say you could turn around?' I ask exasperatedly, well aware of my less than appropriate state of dress. Wood's eyes travel up and down me, and he licks his lips. Oh how I enjoy teasing him.

'Oi! Perve!' I shout and his eye's snap up to meet mine. He immediately smirks, 'Stop gawking at me!'

'Sorry, couldn't help myself,' he says, stepping closer to me.

'I bet you couldn't,' I say, rolling my eyes. I turn my back to him and pull on some shorts. Suddenly I feel something warm on my neck and I spin around quickly, coming face to face with Wood.

'I know what you're doing,' says Wood quietly, while I stare up at him, trying to keep my expression blank. However my insides are going crazy, thanks to his close proximity.

'What's that?' I ask, in what I hope is an even voice.

'You're trying to mess with me,' he says, 'I know you are.'

I raise an eyebrow, 'And?'

'I don't think it's a very good idea,' he says, his voice low, 'If you keep this up, I'm not going to be able to control myself.'

I stare at him, startled, by his bluntness.

'What?'

'Grier, do you have _any _idea what you're doing to me? You're making me go bloody insane! Firstly, you snog me senseless_ multiple times_ then declare you don't, in fact, like snogging me. You openly check me out, and obviously let me check _you_ out. You come on to me then leave me in the bloody corridor to sort myself out and then _this_? You practically letting me watch you change! _What the bloody hell are you trying to do to me?' _

As he was speaking, he'd slowly taken steps forward, and in return I'd taken steps backward. However, it still comes as a shock to me when my back hits the wall.

I don't really have an answer for Wood. I know I've been messing with him, but it wasn't really for any purpose other than to see him squirm. But now that he's looking at me so intensely, a though occurs to me.

I've been doing it to get his attention because I _fancy _him.

I don't know why it hits me so hard right now, but it suddenly makes sense. I've just been denying it up until now. The shivers I get whenever he touches me, the butterflies in my stomach whenever he enters the room, the fact that I've been acting completely out of character around him. It all fits. I gasp at this sudden realisation and he looks down at me curiously.

'What?'

'I – you – I – no – fancy –Argh!' I stutter incoherently. Wood furrows his eyebrows at me.

'What are you on about?' he asks.

'No! I can't!' I exclaim, trying to suppress my suddenly realised feelings.

'You can't what?' he asks, clearly very confused.

'Fancy you!' I exclaim, before my hands fly over my mouth, as though that'd stop the words from being said. Wood looks down at me and blinks for a moment, completely shocked.

'You fancy me?!' he asks incredulously. I shake my head, 'No,' with my hands still covering my mouth. 'You just said you did!' he says. Again I shake my head, not removing my hands from my mouth.

'Grier!' he says indignantly, prising my hands away from my mouth, 'Did you mean that?'

'I don't know!' I cry. I try to move away from him, but I'm still stuck against the wall, and he's arms are resting on the wall, either side of my head. I try to duck around his arms, but he steps closer again so this is impossible.

'Can you let me go?'

'Not until you give me a straight answer!' he says. I groan.

'I don't know, all right? I'm confused!'

'Hurry up and work it out!'

'Why does it matter so much!?' I exclaim.

'I just want to know!' he says, looking intensely down at me. I stare up at him, unsure of what to say.

Before I know what I'm doing, I've flung my arms around his neck and crashed my lips against his. He seems startled for a moment, before he responds eagerly. His hands trace circles on my bare back, which throws me off for a moment, and then I remember I never got completely dressed.

I run my hands up and down his bare chest, as he starts kissing down my neck. He slowly drags his lips back up to my mouth and his hands roam my stomach. I kiss down his neck as one of his hands grabs my leg and hitches it up around his waist and the other tangles itself in my hair. I'm thinking just a fantastic a kisser he is when I hear a gasp.

'Oh…my… god,' comes a completely shocked voice from somewhere over near the door area. Wood and I break apart and practically jump to opposite sides of the room. As if that'll help. It's very, _very _obvious what we've been doing. If the dishevelled appearances, and my lack of shirt are anything to go by.

'Uh… hi Katie,' I say awkwardly. She's standing near the doorway, blinking disbelievingly as though this'll turn out to be a hallucination or something.

'Whoa, okay,' she finally says, apparently deciding it's _not _a hallucination, and just very, very unexpected, 'Uh, sorry to, um, interrupt, but I just left my gloves down here and I thought I'd come and get them. Uhh, I'll just be leaving now.'

She starts backing out the door, when I decide I'd better follow.

'Katie, wait! I'll come back with you,' I say. She nods and stands awkwardly in the door way, waiting for me to my shirt on. I pick up my bag and glance at Wood. He's staring at the wall, looking smug and snogged. I decide not to say anything and I follow Katie out the door.

As soon as we've left the room, she starts talking.

'What is going on with you two? If I'd have waited any longer, I would've walked in on you shagging on the changing room floor,' she says. I look at her aghast.

'Katie! We would have done no such thing!' I say defiantly. She looks at me sceptically.

'Right, because you were totally in control of yourself,' she says smugly. I scowl at her, 'What started that anyway?'

'I don't know. I said that I may fancy him, I wasn't sure, and he was staring at me and then I got a sudden urge to kiss him! I don't know what came over me!'

'It appears that you fancy the boy, dear Ava,' she says. I sigh quietly, unsure of what I should do about this whole situation.

'Can you not tell anyone about this just yet?' I ask her, 'I'm not sure if I want them to know right away. I don't even know if anything is going to come out of this.'

'If you think that's the way to go,' she says and I nod.

'Thanks Katie.'

'No problem,' she says and pauses for a moment, before she breaks out into a giant grin, 'So, you and Wood we're really going for it in there, huh?'

'Bugger off,' I say, but I'm grinning. We head back to the common room laughing.


	9. Helping Out the Substitute Chaser

True to her word, Katie said nothing about walking in on Wood and I throughout the next week. Wood appeared to be avoiding me and acting like absolutely nothing happened, and I was following suit. We never sat near each other at meals or anything, he only ever barked instructions in my direction at training and was basically avoiding being left in a room alone or anything. Katie kept throwing me sympathetic looks every time Wood would start flirting with another girl. It was starting to get annoying. I was hardly upset by his flirting – he'd always been like that. Just because we'd snogged multiple times did not give me some claim to him.

Besides, he never actually said he fancied me or anything, so I was trying to forget my revelation about my feelings. I wasn't going to become a lost love sick puppy or something and get all moody, just because the guy I fancied wasn't paying me enough attention – besides I wasn't even one hundred per cent sure I actually _did_ fancy him. I could just be lusting after him or something – that would make a_ load_ more sense.

The problem is, though, that whenever I see Wood, I have to use all my self-restraint not to jump at him and snog him senseless. This is a problem, especially in class when I glance in his direction and he's be staring off into space, looking especially tempting. I don't know how long I'm going to last.

'Ava!' a voice whispers loudly from beside me, bringing me out of my reverie, 'You're staring at Wood again.'

I whip my head around to face Katie, and glare at her. It's Thursday, and we are in transfiguration, listening to McGonagall lecture us about something or rather that I haven't heard a word of.

'I was _not_,' I tell her defiantly. She smiles mildly at me.

'I'm sure. Because you totally did not have a dreamy expression on your face as you were licking your lips,' she says, raising her eyebrows at me. I let my head flop onto the desk, groaning. This really needs to stop.

'After class, just go pull him into a broom closet and have your way with him. I'm sure he won't object.'

'Because that wouldn't be weird at all,' I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

'Well, can you please do something? You're starting to get on my nerves. You're all twitchy lately. If you're not going to snog Wood, find someone else to snog to get your mind off him,' say Katie, matter-of-factly. If only it was that easy.

'Somehow, I don't think that's going to work. Besides, what am I supposed to do? Go up to a guy and say "Hi, I need someone to snog. Want to help me out?"' Katie rolls her eyes at my less than co-operative answer.

'Ava, surely there's someone you can find to snog. There are plenty of guys in this school.'

'Fine! I'll have found someone by the end of the day,' I grumble unenthusiastically.

After transfiguration, Katie and I head to the common room. The entire way there, she points out potential victims of my snog attack.

'That guy's pretty hot. No, wait, _he_'s hotter. No, what about him? Oh he's Angelina's ex, you can't do that. Um, what about him?' she carries on, finally stopping when we notice a particularly good looking boy walking in our direction, 'No him!' Katie squeals, pulling me towards him.

'Oh, hi Jacob!' she exclaims, when we realise who the "hot guy" is. I grin at him, suddenly appreciating his good looks and lack of morals. I think I could do with a good snog from someone who is _not_ Wood.

'Hey Katie,' he says smiling at her, 'Ava,' he adds, winking at me.

'Hey Jacob,' I say. Katie looks between us smugly.

'Well, I have to go to the bathroom. Jacob, could you make sure that Ava gets to lunch safely?'

'Anything for Ava,' he says with another wink.

Katie leans in towards me for a moment and says under her breath, 'He's recently broken up with his girlfriend.' She gives us a little wave before heading off in the other direction.

'So how have you been?' I ask, 'Ready for the match on Saturday?'

'As ready as I'll ever be,' he says, sighing, 'I'm kind of nervous, actually.'

'Anything I can do?' I ask, raising an eyebrow at him in a somewhat suggestive manner. He smirks in response.

'I can think of a few things, actually. Want to help me out?' he asked, jerking his head in the direction of a broom closet. I smile at him and grab his hand.

'Sure – anything to help the team,' I say, pulling him into the broom closet.

Although this behaviour is completely out of character for me, it's somewhat liberating to take control of a situation like this. Besides, it'll help me in the long run – if I can take my mind off Wood, I'll be a very happy girl.

I push Jacob up against the wall, and immediately start kissing him. He responds straight away. I can't help imagining it's Wood and am slightly annoyed by this, so I kiss him harder. I try to lose myself in the kiss, and even let Jacob's hands roam around beneath my shirt. I'm slowly starting to forget about Wood and recognise how great a kisser is, when the door bangs open. I groan as I pull away from Jacob, and turn to see a particularly horror-struck Wood standing in the doorway. Just my luck.

He stares at us blankly for a second, before turning on his heel and slamming the door behind him. I stare at the closed door before sighing.

'I'd better go,' I mumble to Jacob, who's looking annoyed. He rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything, 'See you.'

I adjust my clothing and hair so I look presentable, then dash back towards the common room, which with any luck is where Wood will be.

After saying a hurried password to the Fat Lady, I enter the common room and scan it for Wood. However, he's no where in sight. Katie, though, is sitting by the fire, finishing some homework. She looks up as I approach, and looks questioningly at me.

'What happened?' she asks as I plop down in the seat opposite her.

'Wood happened,' I grumble.

'What?

'I was just starting to forget about him, when the devil himself opens the door and spots us, before storming off. A bit of a mood killer,' I tell her, sinking down into the chair. Katie looks at me sympathetically.

'I'll say. But it did help you take your mind of him for a bit?

'I suppose so,' I say, shrugging, 'We'll just have to see how well it works next time I see him. I was too shocked to react when he opened the door.'

'Well, you don't have to wait long,' says Katie, looking over my shoulder. There is Wood, strolling in our direction. I don't think he's seen me, otherwise he wouldn't be heading over here.

'Hey Katie,' he says, before spotting me. He gives me a disgusted look but doesn't say anything.

'Hey Oliver. How are you?'

'Fantastic,' he says through gritted teeth, glaring down at me. Whoa, no need to get so mad!

'What?' I snap at him, finally glaring back. He gives me a scathing look, but says nothing and turns to Katie.

'Do you know what I just found _the seeker_ here doing?' he asks Katie, projecting particular venom into "the seeker." Apparently I no longer deserve a name. Katie looks politely curious.

'No?'

'She was snogging the substitute chaser,' he growls. Katie looks politely shocked.

'Ava!' she exclaims, 'Nice work!'

'Nice work!' repeats Wood, bewildered, 'She was _snogging_ him. Did I not make that clear?'

'Yes, you made that very clear. What's so wrong with her snogging someone?' asks Katie, peering up at Wood. He opens and closes his mouth several times, apparently unsure of how to respond. Katie waits a moment before continuing, 'I mean, it's not as though she's going out with anyone. Nobody has a claim on her or anything. She's perfectly entitled to snog anyone she pleases.'

She looks up at Wood, waiting for him to answer. I sit there watching the exchange, bemused, with a faint idea of where Katie is headed with it.

'But, but, you can't snog a substitute player!' Wood splutters, stupidly if I do say so myself. Katie rolls her eyes.

'Rubbish Oliver. You just made that rule up then. Do you have any reason that Ava should not be snogging Jacob?'

'He has a girlfriend!'

'He actually broke up with her a week ago. So that hardly counts as an excuse,' says Katie evenly, 'As far as I can tell there's no reason at all why she can't snog anyone she likes. For example, if she wanted to snog you, she'd be quite welcome to.'

Wood's facial expressions changed wildly for a moment before becoming blank. It was quite amusing for me to be watching this entire exchange as though I wasn't there.

'She's got plenty of other people to snog,' he snaps. Katie raises her eyebrows.

'Is that a bit of jealousy I hear in your voice?' she asks, grinning slightly.

'No!' he exclaims, 'Why would I be jealous of her snogging anyone else?'

'Wood, just admit it. You're jealous,' says Katie exasperatedly.

'I'm not! She's allowed to kiss whoever she wants and I won't be jealous!' he says, looking completely out of his depth. I smirk at his humiliation, 'How come she isn't getting questioned? She's the one that was snogging someone for no reason!'

'How do you know it was for no reason?' asks Katie. I decide it's finally time for me to interject.

'Yeah, maybe I _fancy_ him,' I say, looking up at Wood. He growls.

'You wouldn't fancy _him_,' he spits.

'Who's to say I wouldn't?'

'Well, because, I – argh!'

'Wood, that made no sense,' I say, enjoying seeing him flustered.

'But you've been ignoring me all week! I thought, well-'

'Actually Wood, you've been ignoring me!'

'No, you've been ignoring me!'

'No, I quite clearly remember trying to come talk to you, only to have you walk away!'

'Maybe I didn't see you!'

'Guys!' exclaims Katie, interrupting our pathetic little argument, 'Maybe you just keep missing each other! Maybe neither of you is ignoring the other!'

'Ava's ignoring me, because she's embarrassed that she let slip that she fancies me!' says Wood, looking smug. I glare at him.

'I said I _might_ fancy you Wood, and I definitely don't fancy you now,' I snap.

'Good! Well I don't fancy you either!'

'Good!'

'Fine!'

'Fine!' I snap for the last time, before storming up stairs to my dormitory.

I pace the room for a while, silently fuming and occasionally kicking something. Bloody Wood! He makes me so mad! I definitely don't fancy him! I don't even like him one tiny little bit!

'Ava!' comes Katie's voice as the door opens, 'Are you alright?'

'Fantastic,' I snap, before immediately feeling bad. Katie was only trying to help, 'Sorry,' I add guiltily.

'It's alright. I'm sorry for starting all that,' she says, looking down.

'Katie! It's not your fault Wood's such a prat!' I say indignantly, give my trunk a good kick as I say his name, 'No one can help that! He starts those things himself.'

'I suppose. But I was so sure he was finally going to admit he was jealous and that he fancies you!'

'Apparently not,' I grumble, 'He doesn't fancy me at all.'

'Ava, I highly doubt that. He was probably just feeling a bit defensive and not very happy about just having seen you snogging another guy. He most definitely does fancy you.'

'I'm sure,' I say, not believing her. How many times have people said he does fancy me, when he clearly doesn't?

'You didn't see him after you stormed up here – he was muttering to himself, banging his head on the wall and practically going insane.'

'Whatever. I'm sick of boys,' I say, indicating that the conversation is over. Katie sighs resignedly.

'Fine. But remember, when he finally does ask you out, I knew all along!'


	10. Game On

Its Saturday and time for our quidditch match against Ravenclaw. For once I'm not looking forward to the game. Tensions within our team are high. Wood and I aren't speaking, Wood's being a right bastard to Jacob and we're all bummed that Alicia isn't playing, even though she's told Madam Pomfrey she's absolutely fine many, many times.

After Wood gives his usual pep talk, during which I ignore him, we make our way towards the pitch.

'And here we have the Gryffindor team! Johnson, Weasley, Weasley, Bell, Grier, Henry aanndd Wood!'

As we hear our names, we kick off the ground hard and speed up into the air to a round of cheers.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, get ready for a spectacular match! Jacob Henry is subbing for Alicia Spinnet, who was unable to play due to an incident with a bludger...'

I half listen to Lee Jordan's commentary as the captains shake hands. Wood glares at Davies. Davies snarls right back at him. After being given a talking to by Madam Hooch, there's a sharp blast of her whistle and the game begins.

'And they're off! Gryffindor gain possession! Bell to Johnson, back to Bell, passes to Henry, back to Johnson who shoots aandd saved by the keeper! Ravenclaw take possession!'

The game continues for about ten minutes without anyone scoring. I'm hovering a bit above the rest of the game, watching for any sign of the snitch. Wood seems to be taking out all his frustrations on the quaffle, and is actually playing extremely well.

Thankfully, Jacob is also playing well, and there's nothing for Wood to tell him off about for which I am grateful. The last thing we need is a fight between the keeper and the chaser.

The Ravenclaw seeker, whose name escapes me, is tailing me closely, choosing to watch me rather than looking for the snitch. I frown and her over my shoulder, before flying a quick length of the pitch to get her off my tail. Thankfully it works.

It's nearly an hour into the game, and Ravenclaw is up 110 – 90. Without Alicia, the chasers aren't working as well as they normally would, despite Jacob's best efforts. I double my efforts in looking for the snitch – if I catch it soon we can win.

About ten minutes later, I'm scanning the pitch for the snitch, when I see Wood saving a goal. God, even when he's all sweaty and concentrating hard he still manages to look bloody fantastic! It's not fair! I continue checking Wood out for a while when I notice something glinting behind him that hadn't been there before.

It only takes me a moment to realise that the glint behind Wood is, in fact, the snitch. I take off immediately, hoping that the Ravenclaw seeker is yet to have spotted it. I highly doubt it, considering the only reason I'd noticed it was because I was watching Wood.

I narrowly avoid flying into Wood in my haste to get the snitch and hear him cursing under his breath, which suddenly becomes a cheer as I grab the snitch. There is a roar of cheers as I hold up the snitch, heading towards the ground and the Gryffindor supports clap and cheer madly.

'Gryffindor win! Grier has caught the snitch!'

I grin at the team who are shooting down at me, before jumping off their brooms and pulling me into a hug. I'm grabbed from the side and hugged by someone, and it takes me a moment to realise is Wood.

By the look on his face, he grabbed me without thinking. He's looking slightly shocked, nervous and awkward but still hasn't let me go. I stare at him, also quite shocked, for quite some time, not really knowing what else to do. It isn't until someone near us clears their throat that we jump apart and avoid each other's eyes. Thank god he doesn't know it was because I was staring at him that I saw the snitch in the first place.

Fred and George are watching us with a knowing glint in their eyes and I scowl at them. I hear them chuckle before theirs a squeal and Alicia comes running down onto the pitch.

'You won!' she exclaims, and jumps on George and kisses him full on the mouth. George seems startled for a moment before carrying Alicia away, winking at us all over his shoulder.

I glance around me and notice Wood has disappeared, and Jacob has instead materialised beside me.

'Hey! Great game!' I tell him, giving him a hug. He grins.

'Thanks, babe, nice catch at the end there,' he says, putting an arm around my shoulder, 'What do you say we head back up to the common room? My sources tell me there's some sort of victory party going on,' he finishes with a wink and after flashing him a smile, I let him lead me back up to the castle.

We enter the common room and are greeted with cheers, and have drinks shoved into our hands. Jacob is yet to have removed his arm from around my shoulder, and he steers me over to where the rest of the quidditch team are gathering. Katie, Wood, Fred and Angelina are all sitting there, along with Max. George and Alicia are nowhere to be seen, and I had a pretty good idea of what they were doing.

'Hey brilliant game guys!' Max says enthusiastically as Jacob and I sit down next to her. I beam at her, excited about her win. However, my beam falters when I notice Wood glaring hard at me.

'What the hell is wrong with you?!' I exclaim suddenly and his glare intensifies, 'You're being a right prat!'

'You're the one that's been ignoring me,' he snaps.

'_You're _the one who got mad for no reason!'

'For no reason?! You were snogging _him_,' he jerks a thumb in Jacob's direction, apparently not even able to say his name, 'And you can't see a problem with that?'

'No, because there is no problem!' I hiss indignantly, 'I'm at perfect liberty to snog whoever I want!'

'Well you can if you want everyone to think you're a sl-'

'Guys!' Katie interjects suddenly, effectively cutting Wood off, 'We've just won a quidditch match! Can't you two not argue for two seconds and _celebrate_?'

Wood huffs before slouching back in his seat, his arms folded and glares at everyone. I roll my eyes at him before turning my attention to Jacob.

'So, does it feel different being on the team and celebrating, rather than just watching?' I ask him, trying to make conversation. The last thing I need is to sit there fuming over bloody Wood.

'It feels much better,' he says with a smirk, 'I get to celebrate with a lovely lady such as yourself.'

There is a loud bang as Wood slams his hands down onto the table in front of him.

'This is ridiculous! I'm out,' he snarls and after directing one last glare in mine and Jacob's direction, storms off towards the boys dormitories.

We all stare after him, shocked by his outburst. Alicia is the first to speak.

'Should someone go talk to him?' she asks, looking at me. I raise my hands defensively as everyone nods.

'Whoa, don't look at me! I'm not talking to him when he's in this mood!' I tell her and she scowls.

'Ava, he's in this mood because of you,' she says slowly, as though she's talking to a particularly stupid child. I frown at her.

'I haven't done anything!' I say indignantly. I honestly don't know what I've done now that made him so mad! Alicia sighs.

'When are you two going to stop being so oblivious?! Good god Ava, it's obvious to everyone else that you fancy each other! You two need to stop being so stubborn and realise it too!'

I stare at her, startled by her outburst. My mouth opens and closes multiple times as I don't know how to respond to that. She seems so serious.

'Go talk to him!' Katie says giving me a little shove and I nearly fall out of my seat.

'I already said I'm not talking to him!'

'Bloody hell Ava, just go!' Max says and I feel betrayed. They're all ganging up on me! I look at Fred and George who give me defiant looks and jerk their heads in the direction of the boys dormitories. I then look at Jacob who is looking quite lost and gives me a half-hearted shrug. I'm confused by this as I thought he hated Wood, but then I notice Max giving him one of her most threatening death glares.

'FINE!' I exclaim, slightly annoyed, 'I'll go talk to him!'

After giving the now happy looking group a withering glare, I stalk off up to the seventh year boy's dormitories.

I don't bother knocking and push the door open. Wood is lying on his bed reading what appears to be a quidditch magazine and looking thoroughly pissed off. He looks even more pissed off when he notices it's me.

'What the hell do you want?' he snaps, scowling at me as I close the door behind me.

'Don't think I came up here by choice. I was forced to,' I inform him, folding my arms defensively. He rolls his eyes and chucks the magazine on the floor. He stares at me for a while, waiting for me to speak. I stare right back, determined not to say anything.

'Well?' he asks impatiently when I haven't spoken for over a minute, 'There must be a reason why you're here.'

'The others made me.'

'Why?'

'I don't know, do I?'

There is another pause, during which our glaring at each other intensifies. The air is crackling with tension and I get the irrational urge to kiss him. I fight back the urge and instead explode.

'What the hell is your bloody problem? You've been acting like a right prick the past week and I have no idea why! And what the hell was before all about?!' I shout at him, my annoyance at him from the past week coming to surface. He stands up abruptly and stalks towards me, '_What _do you think you're do- mph – '

I'm cut off as he kisses me. I let out a muffled squeal in shock, then mustering all my strength I push him away.

'What the _hell _do you think you're doing? You can't just mppgh-'

It takes me a moment longer to push him away this time. When I finally manage to push him away I notice a smirk forming on his face.

'What is wrong with mmpphgh-'

It takes even longer for me to push him away. I'm starting to remember why I've snogged him so many times. However, I push him harder this time and I take a few steps away.

'Stop it!' I exclaim, taking another step back as he again advances on me, 'I mean it Wood!' I add as he continues towards me. I realise I'm just about to hit the wall and dart around him into the middle of the room, 'You can't just act like a right prick towards me all week and expect me to let you kiss me! You still haven't told me what your problem is!'

'You're my problem!' he replies, chasing me around the room. I jump behind a bed with him on the other side. He rolls his eyes and starts walking around it towards me.

'Don't come any closer!' I shout, getting ready to jump over the bed as he gains on me, 'I'm not kidding Wood!'

I manage to leap over the bed just before he reaches me. He growls at me. I then realise just how ridiculous we must look.

'Would you quit it!' he says, sounding frustrated.

'Stop following me! And tell me how the bloody hell I'm your problem!' I exclaim.

'I bloody well fancy you!' he blurts out, 'And you prancing around with Jacob is pissing the hell out of me! All I've wanted to do all week is kiss you but every time I see you you're with _him_! Now keep still!'

In my state of shock from his confession he manages to kiss me. I am reminded of how much I like snogging him and don't bother pushing him away. It then occurs to be that Alicia was right. And Max. And Katie. I hate it when they're right.

A while later Wood pulls away and looks at me.

'Come to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?' he asks, a small smile appearing on his face. I just stare at him blankly for a while, watching him get nervous and inwardly smirking.

'Fine,' I reply finally. He lets out a sigh of relief and grins widely.

'Thank god. I thought you were going to say you didn't fancy me at all.'

'I never said I fancied you, Wood,' I tell him with a hint of a smirk and raise my eyebrows at him, before sauntering out of the room. It isn't until I'm walking back down to the common room that I let myself grin widely.

I've got a date with my quidditch captain.

**A/N: This is the last chapter! I don't really know about the ending, but whatever. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed and I hope you enjoyed it! **


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